88 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 1 
FINANCIAL ADVANTAGES FROM 
LOW FACES 
Taking the average price of turpen¬ 
tine as 98 cents a gallon and of rosin as 
$4.80 a barrel, 10 it has been shown in 
Table III that there would be a dif¬ 
ference in value of the products 
between the “low” or 34-inch chipping 
and the “high” or <4-inch, amounting 
to more than $250 per crop; or to be 
very conservative, since the calculated 
yield may still be higher than an actual 
one based on a* large number of vari¬ 
ously conditioned trees, say, in round 
numbers, about $200. 
Before undertaking the test there was 
no clear indication of an actual gain in 
total yield to be had the first year. 
Results on a large number of less care¬ 
fully matched trees had even indicated 
a lower first-year yield than from trees 
more heavily worked. The advantage 
of increased yield during later years 
was, however, expected, and the next 
three years will show whether or not 
the expectation was justified. The 
advantages of reduced size of scar and, 
consequently, of better sustained vital¬ 
ity in the tree, more prolonged working, 
and reduced degrading of the butt 
lumber were obviously assured from 
the start. These will remain significant 
whether the yields during the first 
year are to be slightly less, the same as, 
or greater than those obtained from 
heavier work. 
MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF WOOD 
FORMATION IN THE TEST TREES 
MATERIAL 
The progress of wood formation 
above the face scar on the test trees 
was followed by means of a micro¬ 
scopic study of chips collected on June 
6, July 26, October 19, and November 
24, 1923, at the height of the face on 
those respective dates. An examina¬ 
tion of increment borings made on the 
Group 1 and Group 2 trees when they 
were first selected had revealed no 
significant differences. 
• 
RESULTS OF MICROSCOPIC STUDY 
It has been found as the result of 
extensive study and many painstaking 
comparisons between the structure of 
the new wood formed after turpen¬ 
tining (especially that midway of the 
streak just above the face) and the 
yields and behavior of the trees 
worked that chips such as those 
obtained serve as very reliable indi¬ 
cators. 11 They show whether or not 
a tree has its vitality so impaired that 
it is incapable of producing an ade¬ 
quate return. They show finer points 
also, which are made clear by a com¬ 
parison with the responses of the round 
timber similarly situated during the 
same year. The degree of response in 
such matters as width of annual ring, 
percentage of summerwood, date of 
beginning of wood formation in the 
spring, time of summerwood forma¬ 
tion, and amount and character of 
resiniferous tissue (duct) formation are 
closely coordinated with the method 
of turpentining. These indications can 
often be obtained, by microscopic ex¬ 
amination, in time to save undue 
injury to the timber as a result of too 
heavy working. 
Midseason examination. —Micro¬ 
scopic characteristics of the July 26 
chips, representing the midseason con¬ 
dition of the trees, are recorded in 
Table IV, as are also the character¬ 
istics of the chips taken at the end of 
the season, November 24. 
It is obvious that by July 26 a 
considerable portion of the wood of 
the 1923 ring had been formed. In 
more than half the trees in Group 1 
as many wood cells were already 
present as were found in the entire 
ring formed during the preceding year 
(1922). In Group 3 this was true of 
only about one-third of the trees. On 
the average, the trees chipped 34 inch 
each week (Group 1) had wider rings, 
.more summerwood cells, and more 
resin passages than those of the two 
other groups. This seems to indicate 
an earlier and more vigorous response 
in the Group 1 trees. Indeed, at this 
time they had produced on the average 
nearly three times as many summer- 
wood cells and aboutf twice as many 
resin passages as the Group 3 trees. 
Presumably because of the low chip¬ 
ping and removal of little wood, the 
trees in Group 1 were able to make a 
better adjustment to the exploitation 
of their energies for gum production. 
This notable structural difference was 
approximately concurrent with the 
difference in yield of gum, which was 
particularly apparent for Groups 1 and 
3 from about this time to the end of 
the season, as is shown by the graph, 
Figure 1. It further emphasizes the 
io Based on figures for the 1923-24 season by Speh, C. average monthly savannah markets for 
season 1923-24. Naval Stores Rev. 34 (2) :17. 1924. 
u Gerry, E. oleoresin production. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 1064, 46 p., illus. 1922. -recent 
observations on the effects of turpentining on the structure of second-growth slash and long- 
leaf PINES. Jour. Forestry 21: 236-241. illus 1923 
