EFFECT 01'' ACE. 



17 



Logs from the top ciui usually be recognized by tlie lai-ger percentage <if sa[)\vood and tlie 

 smaller proportion and more regular outlines of tlie bands of suminerwood, which are uioie or less 

 wavy in the butt logs. 



HotU weight and strength vary in the dilVerent 

 parts of the same cross section from center to periph- 

 eiy, and though th(( variations appear frequently 

 irregular in single individuals, a definite law of rela- 

 tion is nevertlieless discernible in large averages, aud 

 onci^ determined is readily observable iu every tree. 



A separate in(iuiry, avoiding the many variables 

 which enter into the mechanical tests, pernnts the fol- 

 lowing deductions for the wood of these pines, and 

 especially for Longleaf; the data referring to weight, 

 but by infereuce also to strength : 



1. The variation is greatest in the butt log (the 

 heaviest part) and least in the top logs. 



'2. The variation in weight, hence also in strength, 

 from center to iieriphery depends on the rate of 

 growth, the heavier, stronger wood being formed dur- 

 ing the period of most rapid growth, lighter and 

 weaker wood in old age. 



3. Aberrations from the normal growth, due to 

 unusual seasons and other disturbing causes, cloud 

 the uniformity of the law of variation, thus occasion- 

 ally leading to tlie formation of heavier, broad ringed 

 wood in old, and lighter narrow-ringed wood in young 

 trees. 



4. Slow-growing trees (with narrow rings) do not 

 make less heavy, nor heavier wood than thriftily 

 grown trees (with wide rings) of the same age. (See 

 fig. 2.) 



EFFECT OF AGE. 



The interior of the butt log, representing the 

 young sapling of less than fifteen or twenty years of 

 age, aud the central portion of all logs containing 

 the pith and two to five rings adjoining, is always 

 light aud weak. 



The heaviest wood in Longleaf and Cuban Pine is 

 formed between the ages of fifteen and one hundred 

 and twenty years, with a specific weight of over 0.00 

 and a maximum of 0.06 to 0.08, between the ages of 

 forty and sixty years. The wood formed at the age 

 of about one hundred years will have a specific 

 weight of 0.62 to 0.63, which is also the average 

 weight for the entire wood of old trees; the wood 

 formed after this age is lighter but does not fall below 

 0.50 up to the two hundredth year; the strength 

 varies in the same ratio. 



In the shorter-lived Loblolly and Shortleaf the 

 period for the fonnation of th(^ heaviest wood is 

 between the ages of fifteen and eighty, the average weight being then over 0.50, with a maximum 

 of 0.57 at the age of thirty to forty. The average weight for old trees (0.51 to 0.52) lies about 

 the seventy-fifth year, the weight then falling off to about 0.45 at the age of one hundred and 

 forty, and continuing to decrease to below 0.38, as the trees grow older. 

 17433_No. 13 2 



^ia"S 



Wfi/ZOA/rAl ^//V=///V 

 FiQ. 2.— Schematic section tlirongh stem of Loniilenf Piue, 

 slinwinj; variiition of specitjc weight with height, diumet*T, 

 and ago at twenty {aba), sixty (dcd), one hundred aud twenty 

 Were), aud two hundred {////) years. 



