30 MISC. PUBLICATION 290, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



species now considered inferior or worthless. The work includes, for 

 example, determination of the strength properties of wood, improved 

 methods of fabrication and design, wood preservation by chemicals to 

 prevent decay and decrease inflammability, painting and gluing of 

 wood, pulp and paper making possibilities of various species, im- 

 proved methods of seasoning, chemistry and chemical utilization of 

 wood, and methods of selective logging to bring about the profitable 

 and permanent management of forest properties. 



The bulk of the work in forest-products research is centered at the 

 Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis., with some affiliated 

 work at the California, Pacific Northwest, and Northern Rocky 

 Mountain Forest Experiment Stations, and at Washington, D. C. 



F-243364 



Figure 23. — Norway pine plantation on the Huron National Forest, Mich. 

 FOREST ECONOMICS 



Investigations in forest economics cover the entire range of eco- 

 nomic and social problems involved in the production of forests and 

 in the utilization of forest resources. They consist particularly of 

 investigations of forest land and forest land management. 



The series of correlated projects under way includes studies to 

 determine the economic feasibility of timber growing; equitable 

 methods of forest taxation; the possibility and principles of forest 

 insurance; the extent of tax delinquency and reversion to public 

 ownership of forest land and the practicability of remedial measures ; 

 and the collection, classification, and interpretation, in cooperation 

 with the Bureau of the Census, of economic data on the production, 

 distribution, consumption, and price of forest products. 



A comprehensive survey of the forest resources and requirements of 

 the whole country is now in progress. This is a nation-wide economic 

 study of our forest -resource situation involving an inventory of the 

 extent, location, and condition of forest lands; the quantity, kinds, 



