170 College of Forestry 
wood decays, however, is proportional to the durability pos- 
sessed by e each species. It may be stated as a general rule 
that the sapwood of all trees is very susceptible to the attacks 
of Polyporus pargamenus and that where there is any dif- 
ference in the resisting powers of such woods to this fungus 
it will be in favor of the heartwood. 
A ReEconNAISSANCE SURVEY oF A REcEnt Burn. 
A reconnaissance survey was made in a region near State 
College, Pa., known locally as “ The Barrens.” This region 
was lumbered several years ago and since then parts of it 
have been burned over at frequent intervals by surface fires. 
It is characterized by having a dry, sandy soil, but the mar- 
gin towards State College, where the survey was made, bor- 
ders upon a limestone country, at which point the water is 
well underground except during the early months of the year. 
In May, 1915, a surface fire swept over a portion of the 
Barrens that had thus far remained free from fire during 
the hfe of the stand of timber then present. As a result 
the trees on this area, with a few exceptions, were scorched 
so badly that they were killed outright. A few of the 
smaller trees were burned so badly near the base that some 
subsequently broke off. In August, 1916, the writer visited 
this area with the intention of securing some data relative 
to the rapidity with which fire-killed timber becomes infected 
with and deteriorates under the action of Polyporus parga- 
menus. In cruising through this area it was observed that a 
surprisingly large percentage of the fire-killed timber already 
(only one year and three months after the fire) bore sporo- 
phores of this sap-rotting fungus. Since the opportunity was 
so ably presented for securing valuable data in regard to the 
deterioration of standing timber after a forest fire, “the writer 
decided to make a detailed reconnaissance survey of a portion 
of this burned area. A place was selected where the con- 
ditions were typical of the whole area that had been burned 
for the first time during the life of the stand and a rectangle, 
100 by 500 feet, was laid off. This tract was fairly level — 
in fact no great variations in topographic conditions oecur 
