186 College of Forestry 
for this purpose, since, having their vitality considerably 
reduced, they would not be good seed-producers, and more- 
over they undoubtedly would die within two or three years 
or even earlher. In deciduous forests it usually is unneces- 
sary to leave seed trees, owing to the abundant production of 
sprouts and to the presence of young trees intermingled with 
the more mature ones. 
Trees in the woodlot should be inspected annually and all 
diseased trees should be removed. ‘The presence on a trunk 
of the fruiting bodies of Polyporus pargamenus, which may 
appear as early as a year from the time of infection, is the 
surest evidence of the existence of sap-rot and of the neces- 
sity of removing the tree. Such trees should be removed 
wherever found. Fire-scorched trees should be removed and 
marketed before decay sets in, for once the cambium is killed, 
decay invariably will follow quickly. In large forested areas 
it is not possible to personally inspect the trees every year, 
although the present prices of white oak nearly justify the 
expense necessary in a system of careful forest sanitation. 
It certainly will pay in lumbering large tracts of oak and 
other valuable hardwoods to cut out all “unsound or diseased 
trees, remove the parts that can be used and burn the remain- 
der. Under the present methods of lumbering many trees 
are left standing because they are decayed near the base of 
the trunk. The importance of utilizing such trees can not 
be too strongly exemplified, since, if used before the decay 
has spread for many months, the heartwood and all of the 
tree above the first log can be used, especially in those trees 
which have a durable heartwood, such as the white oak, for 
example. If cut down these trees will often be found to 
contain enough lumber to pay for the cost of the operation. 
Such a procedure will lead to a better and closer utilization 
of our gradually decreasing lumber supply of deciduous 
woods, especially of white oak. If, however, trees affected 
by sap-rot are left long in the forest they will deteriorate very 
rapidly and unless the merchantable timber which such trees 
may contain is utilized it will be a total waste and remain 
in the woods to furnish a means for the incubation of the 
fungus and the spread of the inoculum. 
