to expand research and the training 

 of scientists. A comparison of 1968 

 research activities (the first year 

 for which accurate records were 

 available) with those of 1983 shows 

 that university forestry plus forest- 

 products research scientist-years 

 increased 80 percent. The number 

 of formal projects increased 50 

 percent, and total funding from all 

 public and private sources for such 

 research increased nearly 600 

 percent over that 15-year period. 



In forestry, southern universities 

 have made major research 

 contributions in forest biology 

 areas such as genetics and tree 

 improvement, forest fertilization, 

 nursery management, aspects of 

 pest management, in biometrics, 

 and in the development of 

 acceptable practices for nonpoint- 

 source pollution control. These are 

 areas where there have been large- 

 scale applications of results, and 

 for which growth or profitability 

 gains or loss-reduction effects are 

 significant. 



In forest-products fields, examples 

 of major contributions include the 

 development of harvesting systems 

 to pick up waste biomass for use 

 as fuel, improved kiln drying 

 systems to cut drying times and 

 losses due to degrade, utilization of 

 soft hardwoods in manufacturing 

 structural grade plywood, 

 computerized custom pallet design 

 system, and the use of oxygen 

 rather than chlorine in the 

 bleaching of pulp. Each has 



resulted in major savings in costs 

 and/or material, or in new uses for 

 previously unusable species, 

 grades, or sizes of raw material. 



The universities have made 

 significant contributions in basic 

 research areas such as nutrient 

 cycling; insect biology, behavior, 

 and population dynamics; the 

 physiology of drought resistance; 

 the physiology of infection and 

 epidemiology of rust organisms; 

 the liquification of wood; and. 

 recently, tissue culture, gene 

 splicing, and gene transfer. 



The rapid expansion in southern 

 forest industry, State forestry 

 programs, research, and the pace 

 of technological development after 

 World War II mandated the 

 expansion of continuing-education 

 and extension programs. These 

 have been the link between the 

 university and the field through 

 interpreting research into 

 applicable and understandable 

 forms; demonstrating new and 

 better equipment, techniques, and 

 systems with users under field 

 conditions; publicizing results; and 

 training professionals, key 

 managers, and production 

 personnel — people who train and 

 motivate others by means of short 

 courses, symposia, and institutes. 



Continuing education involving 

 teaching and research, as well as 

 extension faculty, is primarily a 

 post-World War II development. 

 Extension forestry began earlier, in 



70 



