M 

 Commencing in the late winter of 1960, the design and construction of a 



mechanical fire- line builder was undertaken. There has iLong been a need for such 

 a piece of equipment, but the many attempts both in Canada and the United States 

 to produce one have met with little or no success. 



Several major projects were carried out for other sections of the 

 Research Branch. Among these was the construction and installation of two addi- 

 tional hybrid trout selection tanks for the Fisheries Section. The mechanical 

 parts for a fisheries research data card processing machine were designed and con- 

 structed. A pack tractor, which had been previously produced by the Section, was 

 converted for the use of the Forestry Section to improve the method of applying 

 fertilizers to sample tree plots. Considerable marine work, having to do with 

 modifications and power plant installations on the various research vessels of the 

 Research Branch was carried out. In addition to this work, many other devices and 

 pieces of equipment were developed to aid in research generally. 



MATHEMATICAL STATISTICS and MENSURATION 



A small group has been built up since 1944 for the development, investi- 

 gation and analysis of statistical models and designs for research. In 1950 

 forest mensuration studies were started on volume tables and tree growth; dis- 

 continued in 1956, this work was resumed in 1959. 



In addition to routine help to all sections in designing experiments 

 and analyzing data, there were three developments worthy of special mention. One 

 was the study of sinkage of pulpwood logs - a study being analyzed for the 

 Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company. The second was the study of estimating as a 

 substitute for scaling, and arising out of this the preparation of tables of 

 height, diameter, age and volume for various species in two of the main forest 

 regions. The data from these is used to calculate the volume of the stand in areas 

 selected for comparison of estimating and scaling. Initial tests near Gogama 



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