Northern Region 



Drainage 



This work is to study the effects of drainage upon the existing water table 

 and tree growth in the Cochrane Qay Belt. Approximately 8,000 feet of ditch 

 was blasted during the summer of 1961 in Leitch Township Research Area. Soil 

 samples were taken and analyzed for their chemical and physical properties, and 

 water table fluctuations were measured. 



Road Construction 



This work is to explore the possibility of road construction without the use 

 of granular fill. Three quarters of a mile of road in muskeg terrain was con- 

 structed. In contrast to standard procedures, the fill consisted of peat or organic 

 material dug up from the ditches alongside the road. The road has already proven 

 suitable for light i/2-ton truck traffic. 



Silviculture 



An experimental cutting of 200 cords of pulpwood was carried out in the 

 Research Area in Leitch Township. Two permanent sample plots, three acres 

 each, in mixed stands of black spruce, white spruce, balsam, poplar and aspen 

 were established. Mensurational data were compiled before and after selection 

 cutting for the purpose of studying the effects of the treatment. 



Research Area, Leitch Township — General 



Inventory work initiated in 1959-60 was continued and is near completion. 

 A management plan is being drawn up. A total of 75,800 black and white spruce, 

 2,000 Siberian Scotch pine, and 23,000 red pine seedlings were planted for 

 study purposes. A protective fence was erected around a Nellie Lake Scotch pine 

 plantation to protect this stand of plus trees against rabbit damage. A total of 

 25 miles of Concession, lot and boundary lines were resurveyed, cleared of 

 brush and marked with paint. 



Central Region 



The work of this research unit consists both of field and laboratory studies 

 of problems of tree nutrition related particularly to forest disturbance and regener- 

 ation. It includes studies of the ecology of red spruce, and work on smelter 

 fume pollution in relation to forest soils and vegetation. 



Tree Nutrition, Forest Disturbance and Regeneration 



It is not yet known whether such disturbances as repeated prescribed burning 

 may or may not have a detrimental effect on Ontario forest soils and ultimately, 

 therefore, on tree growth. These studies are designed to provide answers to this 

 question. In addition it is hoped that explanations will be provided for such 

 questions as why some tree seedlings grow better than others as a result of 

 different types of scarification. 



Studies are under way on the effects of prescribed burning and scarification 

 on nutrient release in the soil and the uptake of these nutrients and the growth 

 of tree seedlings. 



Red Spruce Ecology 



This tree has characteristics which should prove useful in improving the 

 productivity of derelict tolerant hardwood and mixed-wood stands. These studies 



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