182 DEPARTMENTAL EEPOETS. 



lands. A market study of the gum was carried on in connection with 

 the field work, and the value of the wood and best methods of han- 

 dling it were ascertained. In the past the gum has been considered a 

 very inferior wood because of the diflBculties in handling and season- 

 ing it. The boards tend to warp and twist. B}'^ care in drying, 

 however, these defects can largely be overcome, and it is hoped that 

 the present study will be of value in establishing this wood more 

 firmly on the market. The wood is used chiefly for boxes, flooring, 

 furniture, and interior finishings. 



RAILEOAD TIES. 



The available supply of timber for railroad ties is rapidl}^ dwin- 

 dling awa3% and therefore it grows more important every day to find a 

 cheap and still abundant material. With this aim in view the study 

 of lobloll}' pine, which has been can-ied on in manj" parts of the South, 

 was taken up in Texas, where the great area of j'oung growth of lob- 

 lolly pine furnished for this purpose an unexcelled opportunity. Par- 

 ticular attention was paid to the yield of loblolly pine land in ties and 

 the advisability of holding it as a permanent investment for raising tie 

 timber, as well as to the possibilities of avoiding the waste coupled 

 with tie making and introducing economical methods of management 

 of loblolly pine forests for ties. 



THE MONEY VALUE OF A TREE. 



A piece of work along entirely new lines is the detei'mination of 

 the money values of trees of diffei-ent sizes, by selecting trees in the 

 woods and following the logs through the mill to learn the amounts 

 and grades of lumber they saw out. The result is a striking demon- 

 stration of the rapid yearly increase of small trees in actual cash 

 value, and hence of the wisdom of preserving them. This determina- 

 tion has now been made for longleaf pine in Alabama and Louisiana, 

 and for yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech in New York. 



Work for the Ensuing Year, 

 working plans. 



At least eight working plans will be prepared during the coming 

 year. They arc as follows: 



A working plan for a small ti'act in New Hampshire, chiefly impor- 

 tant for the excellent opportunity it will afford to studj' methods of 

 logging the mixed forest of white pine and hardwoods in such a way 

 as to increase the proportion of the valuable white pine in. the next 

 crop. Under proper management the natural reproduction of white 

 pine may be greatly increased. 



Two working plans for tracts in West Virginia, where the important 

 problem of management is to provide a continued supply of cheap 

 mining timbers. The chief object of the working plans will be to 

 devise a system of logging Ijy which the annual requirement for min- 

 ing timbers can be supplied without overcutting the forest. 



A working plan in Kentucky for a tract of 40,000 acres of hardwood 

 forest, which the owners wish to hold mainly for the permanent pro- 

 duction of railroad ties. This is a problem which is rapidly assuming 



