21 



Special Studies. 



Mr. E. O. Sieckehas completed his field work in the Truckee-Carson irrigation proj- 

 ect, and has since been engaged in seed collecting and rangers' nursery work in Cali- 

 fornia. His work in the irrigation project covered the question of forest planting by 

 settlers, as well as Government planting on waste lands, along canals and on an 

 experimental area. Prof. F. G. Miller has completed a similar study in the North 

 Platte project and on irrigated land mainly under private ditch in the South Platte 

 country. 



FOREST PRODUCTS. 



Fence Post Treatments. 



The Forest Service will experiment in November to determine the best method of 

 treating fence posts cut from dead lodgepole pine on the Henrys Lake Forest Reserve. 



Large bodies of burned lodgepole pine exist on many reserves. Should these tests 

 prove successful, similar work will probably be carried on in other places. 



Telephone Pole Treatments. 



The preservative treatment of western yellow pine telephone poles with creosote 

 oil has begun at Los Angeles. Several different methods of application are being 

 tried, and excellent results have already been obtained, both with a special butt 

 apparatus and in open tanks. 



Protection and Treatment of Ties. 



Two experimental pieces of track are now being laid in Washington and Montana 

 on the lines of the Northern Pacific Railway. These are laid for the purpose of test- 

 ing the effect on ties of metal and wooden tie plates, and the durability of red fir and 

 tamarack ties treated with zinc chlorid and creosote as compared to seasoned and 

 green untreated ties of the same species. 



Dead and Down Timber on Reserves. 



A study of dead and down timber on the forest reserves has resulted in the loca- 

 tion of many merchantable stands of dead timber. Among the most important are 

 the fire-killed tracts in the Holy Cross Reserve in Colorado. An estimate places the 

 total of all species of fire-killed timber on this reserve at 150,000,000 board feet. 

 Most of it is in good condition, and prospects for marketing it are good. 



A study similar in character to the one made on the Holy Cross Reserve has also 

 been completed for the Gunnison Reserve. The estimated merchantable dead tim- 

 ber on this reserve is 88,000,000 board feet. 



Statistics of Forest Products. 



As the result of an agreement between the Forest Service and the Bureau of the 

 Census the annual statistics dealing with the production of forest products hereafter 

 will be collected and compiled by the two bureaus in cooperation. The resultant 

 publications will be issued jointly. 



The Forest Service will maintain an active cooperation in the work. 



