no 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



part of the area taken out consists of 

 open grass lands, and there is also 

 some heavily timbered land, the title 

 to which has passed from the Gov- 

 ernment. 



The elimination of this large tract 

 from the Blue Mountain National 

 Forest carries out the established pol- 

 icy of the Forest Service that no land 

 shall be included within the National 

 Forests unless it is chiefly valuable 

 for forest purposes. It is distinctly 

 the policy of the Forest Service to 

 exclude open grass lands, unless such 

 are capable of supporting a forest 

 growth or necessary for the protec- 

 tion of water supply. 



To Tell The A scientific laboratory 



Kinds of unique in character, and 

 Wood Apart 



bearing promise of im- 

 portant results, is the one which has 

 just been established by the Forest 

 Service for investigating the structure 

 of commercial woods. In these days 

 of growing scarcity of the more val- 

 uable woods, architects, builders and 

 manufacturers are often seriously 

 perplexed in identifying substitutes. 

 Mistakes in identification have some- 

 times cost thousands of dollars and 

 embarrassing lawsuits. 



Wood users are already sending in 

 samples for identification and asking 

 if science cannot formulate ways by 

 which specific woods can be readily 

 and accurately distinguished from 

 others which have similar appearance 

 but have greater or less value for par- 

 ticular uses. For instance, is a given 

 stick gum or elm? Is it sugar maple 

 or red maple? There are thirty or 

 more important species of oak. 



The laboratory will investigate in 

 a practical way. The structure of the 

 woods, sections lengthwise and cross- 

 wise, will be studied so as to separate 

 by structure alone the various species 

 of a genus. Analytical keys to the 

 trees of each group will be worked 

 out. These will be based on the ar- 

 rangement and character of the pores 

 discernible to the naked eye or by a 

 hand lens. The results will be pub- 

 lished from time to time with good 



illustrations and placed at the disposal 

 of lumber users. A work of this char- 

 acter has long been in demand. 



Extensive Arrangements have just 



Tests" been com P leted b y tne 



United States Forest 



Service, in co-operation with a number 

 of railroads and treating companies, 

 for the most extensive series of tests 

 on structural timber ever under- 

 taken in this or any other country. 

 The tests, as now planned, will be car- 

 ried on at Lafayette, Indiana, and at 

 Seattle. Washington, and the object of 

 the investigations is to determine the 

 effect of commercial processes of treat- 

 ing with creosote on the strength and 

 stiffness of structural timber in such 

 forms as car sills, bridge stringers, 

 deck beams, posts, and other forms in 

 which wood is used for commercial 

 purposes. 



There is serious lack of information 

 at the present time as to how various 

 commercial treating processes affect 

 the strength of timber, and valuable 

 new knowledge is expected from these 

 experiments. The species of wood to 

 be investigated will include longleaf 

 and loblolly pine from the pine re- 

 gions of the South. 



Co-operating A number of important 



in Wood and interesting experi- 



Preservation . , 



ments are being carried 



on by the Forest Service jointly with 

 private concerns and State institutions, 

 in regard to preservative treatment. 



In the Coeur d' Alene country of 

 Idaho, experiments in preservation 

 of the wood from dead trees are be- 

 ing conducted in co-operation with 

 the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining 

 and Concentrating Company. 



In the Bitter Root Valley, in co-op- 

 eration with the Bitter Root Stock 

 Farm, a project is under way in the 

 preservation of fence posts, so as to 

 utilize the cheap and abundant species 

 of trees, as well as dead trees, and 

 make them into satisfactory and dur- 

 able posts. 



The Service is co-operating with 

 the Louisiana State Experiment Sta- 



