34 THE " BLUING 7 ' AND THE "RED ROT 77 OF THE PINE. 



which will be hard and sound, but badly blued. Then again, if the 

 recommendations as to the cutting of live trees which are infested 

 with beetles are followed there will be timber which will in all 

 respects be like the green timber. A tie cut from the top of a tree in 

 September, after the beetle attack in August, will usually be perfectly 

 healthy, i. e., it will show no traces of blue color or only very slight 

 ones. 



All timber which is entirely sound, i, e., not decayed, is fit for the 

 uses to which it can be put in the Northwest, either for mine timbers, 

 lagging, ties, etc. The blue color is not to be considered as a sign of 

 decay. Timber which shows rotten spots of any size in the sapwdod 

 should not be used. An idea of what such decayed spots look like can 

 be gained by studying the photographs reproduced on PI. X, figs. 1 to 

 .3, and PI. XIV, fig. 1. Besides the defect caused by the u red rot,'- one 

 will sometimes find logs which show decay in the center. This is a 

 disease of the living tree, and when more than one or two rings are 

 affected by the disease, such logs should likewise be rejected. The tie 

 section shown on PI. XIV, fig. 2, is an example of this form of rot. 



A careful and intelligent inspector who familiarizes himself with 

 the causes of the decay in the Black Hills Forest Reserve ought to 

 have no difficulty in determining after some practice which timber is 

 fit for use and which ought to be rejected. No amount of chemical 

 treatment will, so far as we now know, make a practicalh r decayed log 

 serviceable. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



Bearing in mind the considerations just referred to, the following 

 recommendations are made: 



(1) Removal of wood from the forest. The dead timber should be 

 removed from the Black Hills Forest Reserve at once. It forms a 

 standing fire menace. The standing beetle-infested trees serve to 

 spread the insect trouble. This dead timber should be removed at 

 once, or at the earliest possible moment, and the living infested trees 

 should be felled and peeled as recommended by Dr. Hopkins, for with 

 every day the situation becomes more and more difficult to handle. 



(2) Sale of wood. In order to rid the forest of danger from fire, 

 from further insect and fungus spread in other words, in order to 

 protect the remaining living trees from further destruction the dead 

 wood should be removed. The cost of operation in removing the 

 dead timber is very considerable: (1) Because of the distance from 

 lines of transportation; (2) because of the greater difficulty in cutting 

 this wood; (3) because of the scattered localities in which it is found; 

 (4) because of the constant care and selection necessary to get good 

 sound wood. Therefore, because of this increased cost, it is recom- 

 mended that the dead and beetle-infested timber be sold at a nominal 



