FORESTRY SECTION 



Reflecting a greater emphasis on the problems of the en- 

 vironment and regional planning as well as the changes 

 taking place within the Department, the Section Supervisor 

 represents the Branch in matters pertaining to regional plan- 

 ning and Planning, Programming, Budgeting System. He is 

 also a member of the Canada-Ontario Joint Forest Re- 

 search Committee. 



In addition to the work of the Units described below, co- 

 operative studies are carried on with several Universities, 

 the Ontario Research Foundation, the Canada Department 

 of Fisheries and Forestry', and the wood using industry. 



WOOD SCIENCE 



Dealing principally with black spruce, studies are aimed at 

 defining the specific physical and chemical wood charac- 

 teristics which contribute to the superior quality of the 

 manufactured products and to relate those characteristics 

 to heritable and environmental factors. 



Development work continues on a method for assessing 

 the average specific gravity and compression wood content 

 of all the wood in the bole of standing black spruce. 



This Unit has co-operative projects with the Ontario Re- 

 search Foundation and the University of Toronto on wood 

 quality, wood anatomy, product quality, and chemical and 

 mechanical pulp. 



MAPLE UNITS 



NURSERY AND PLANTATION 



Preliminary results, from experiments on the over-winter 

 storage of nursery stock, suggest that the use of a polyethy- 

 lene bag containing the seedlings and some wet moss, kept 

 below freezing, has some advantage over the standard 

 method. 



Frost hardiness studies continued. There appeared to be 

 distinct differences in frost hardiness between species. 



TREE BREEDING 



Results of poplar breeding show that a remarkable number 

 of hybrids have been produced in that development of a 

 large number of clones is underway. Effort will now be con- 

 centrated on nursery and field testing of the new hybrids 

 produced to derive their maximum potential. 



In the improvement work on spruce, very encouraging 

 results were obtained by rooting cuttings. Some of the 

 species show such a high percentage of rooters that there 

 should be little trouble in propagating them clonally. 



A co-operative project with Timber Branch has been 

 initiated to assess the selected clones in spruce seed 

 orchards. The general combining ability of the various 

 clones, the specific combining ability of clones, and the 

 determination of the variation and heritablity of certain 

 characteristics are being investigated. 



In blister rust resistance studies on white pine, the test- 

 ing period needed was reduced from 5-6 to 1-2 years by 

 using tublings and a blister rust identification method in 

 bark tissue. 



SITE 



A series of ten maps, showing land-type patterns for the 

 eastern part of Georgian Bay, is under preparation. 



The Unit has co-operated with Timber Branch and field 

 staff in establishing criteria and selecting suitable stands for 

 an experiment conducted jointly by Ontario, Quebec, Mani- 

 toba, the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada, and 

 the Canadian Forestry Service to determine the effect of 

 nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on growth 

 of black spruce and jack pine. 



A soil-root relationship study in plantation red pine indi- 

 cates yearly shifts in the distribution of growth along and 

 between individual roots and the stem. The pattern may be 

 related to the development stage of the tree, the condition 

 of the aerial parts, the distribution of the roots in relation to 

 their particular soil environment, and the variations in mois- 

 ture availability throughout the growing season. 



Computations were completed of long-term average 

 monthly and annual evapotranspiration, moisture deficit and 

 moisture surplus for all stations in Ontario. 



MENSURATION 



Areas of work include the construction and measurement of 

 present forest stand conditions, the determination of volume 

 yield per acre, measurement of rates of growth, and the 

 prediction of future wood production. This information is 

 necessary in planning land use and is basic to the manage- 

 ment of the timber resource. 



Computation of yields, from permanent sample plots in 

 hardwood types, has been complicated by the presence of 

 faster-growing intolerant species mixed with the slower- 

 growing tolerant species. Mixed stands will have to be 

 treated separately. 



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