56 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 449 



packed in pint and quart glass jars and No. 2 and No. 2)4. tin cans. During the 

 past year data on heat penetration, inoculated pack, and thermal death time 

 were obtained for these products. The work is being checked and expanded this 

 year in order to have additional information upon which process times may be 

 based. 



DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 

 R. P. Holdsworth and R. E. Trippensee in Charge 



The Effects of Growth Rate and Wood Density of Plantation-Grown Red 

 Pine on Certain of its Properties and Uses. (James M. Ring and J. H. Rich.) 

 During the summer of 1947 field observations were made in 35 plantations of 

 Red Pine located in New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Thirty- 

 four samples of pole size were taken from eight of these plantations and one 

 natural stand. Sections ten feet long were subjected to transverse bending tests, 

 and the results were correlated with growth rates. The purpose of the study was 

 to determine the feasibility of shortening the rotation without sacrificing the 

 strength properties of poles. 



Results obtained indicate that plantation-grown Red Pine which has made 

 rapid growth during early life, and which has later slowed down forming a 

 shell of dense growth has equally high strength, for use as poles, with Red Pine 

 which has grown slowl}' from the beginning. 



Spacing in plantations can be used to control rates of growth. It was further 

 concluded that Red Pine grown in wide spacing producing low density cores 

 results in stems more free of sweep and crook, and therefore more desirable for 

 poles. This study was supported by the American Creosoting Company. 



Gray Squirrel Damage to Lead-Covered Telephone Cables. (Paul A. White.) 

 This work has been carried on since March 1946 and financied by the Bell Tele- 

 phone Laboratories of New York. 



The problem was to find the cause of gray squirrel damage to lead-covered 

 telephone cable and if possible to find a way of preventing the damage. The re- 

 search was carried on mostly with caged squirrels, but field checks were made in 

 locations of damage, and data collected by the various telephone subsidiaries 

 were analyzed and evaluated. The results of the study indicate that the attack 

 on the cable is due to a nutritional disorder which is similar to the condition in 

 cattle known as depraved appetite. This is caused by lack of calcium and phos- 

 phorus in the diet. 



It is also possible that lead acts as a partial substitute for the calcium in the 

 diet of the squirrels. The time of damage, of which there are two peaks, seems 

 to indicate that the damage is related to pregnancy or lactation of the adult 

 squirrels or to the time when the squirrel broods begin to feed for themselves. 



Of the numerous repellents and cable protectors tried, Glass Fiber Cloth Tape 

 seems to hold the greatest promise. 



Pheasant Physiology. (Herman Goodell.) The purpose of this project was to 

 determine whether a strain of pheasants could be developed to meet the needs of 

 growers attempting to raise pheasants for meat. 



Pure Mongolians and a Mongolian-Chinese ring-necked cross proved to be less 

 nervous and slightly larger than straight Chinese ring-necked birds. 



Sexing of day-old pheasant chicks was successfully accomplished. A pen of 

 eight caponized males did not develop faster than did a pen of normal males 

 handled under similar conditions. 



