62 FOREST THEE DISEASES. 



at large. Wherever possible all undesirable timber 

 should be used first for these purposes. A tree affected 

 with needle disease, mistletoe, or even bark beetles will 

 usually answer just as well as a perfectly sound one. 

 Incense cedar with dry-rot not too far advanced makes 

 as good posts as sound cedar. A tree once affected by 

 any serious parasite, if left long in the forest, deteri- 

 orates very rapidly, and unless the merchantable tim- 

 ber it contains is utilized in time it will go to total 

 waste. 



The surroundings of nurseries and planting areas 

 should also present as healthy conditions as possible. 

 We can not expect to raise sound, thrifty reproduction 

 in an insanitary environment. 



The difficulties in the way of bettering hygienic con- 

 ditions and establishing sanitation in our forests on a 

 large scale are, of course, very great. Although it is 

 comparatively simple, for instance, to trace damage to 

 smelter fumes or smoke, it is generally a hard task to 

 stop the trouble. Systematic elimination of the com- 

 mon fungi or mistletoes will take many years. The 

 method which gives the best results is illustrated by a 

 stipulation inserted in the Forest Service timber-sale 

 contracts. This requires the purchaser to cut all trees 

 marked upon the cutting area, whether merchantable 

 or apparently unmerchantable. Trees must be opened 

 up sufficiently to satisfy the forest officer in charge of 

 their condition, and any logs in such trees which, in 

 his judgment, are merchantable must be removed from 

 the woods, scaled, and paid for. This enables the 

 Forest Service to get rid of all undesirable stuff and to 



