In 1958, a project was Initiated In Leltch Township to study the 

 practicability of soil drainage and Its beneficial effects upon tree growth. In 

 1960, a strip sixty feet wide and 1% miles long, was laid out In a poorly drained 

 stand of black spruce. This strip was prepared for ditching, and peat samples 

 were analysed for physical and chemical properties. During that year a total of 

 1600 feet was ditched with dynamite at a cost of 35 cents per foot. The resulting 

 drainage channel was three to four feet deep and six to eight feet wide. Studies 

 of tree growth will continue In this area for a number of years. 



Within the research reserve In Leltch Township a series of experimen- 

 tal cuttings were continued and a total of 580 cords of pulpwood was removed. 

 This work Is being carried out with the view of developing cutting techniques that 

 will ensure satisfactory regeneration and optimum tree growth. 



The gathering of pertinent data to advance the experimental work in 

 the Leltch reserve was continued. This Included forest Inventory, site Informa- 

 tlon, vegetation and regeneration studies. Experimental plantings were carried 

 out within the reserve and herbicides were applied for brush control. A few 

 hundred seedlings from a select stand of Scotch pine at Nellie Lake were planted 

 on a well drained soil and 30,000 black spruce were planted for study purposes. 



A total of 8000 feet of road was constructed in the Leltch reserve to 

 facilitate future experimental work in the northern portion of the research area, 

 and the field camps were substantially improved. 



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

 smelter fume pollution in relation to forest soils and vegetation. 



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