The gazette-times., December 17, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 14, Image 22

HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Forestry Department Offers Articles of Interest
14
AT present it is generally conced
ed that tlie. best time to cut
timber Ls In the Winter, es
pecially If posts, poles or pole-ties are
the product desired, for timber cut in
Winter gives longer service than if cut
In Summer.
There are several reasons for this,
chief of which is thefactor of decay.
Ties known to have been cut in Sum
mer have rotted sooner than others
known to have been cut in Winter.
This decay is caused by fungi and
these organisms depend largely upon
temperature and moisture for their
development.
In the Spring and Summer months
the sap is full of albuminous sub
stances which, under the high tem
perature of the season, ferment and
produce conditions favorable to the
formation of fungi. In the Winter,
howver, the sap is almost entirely
water and docs not, therefore, offer so
good a medium for the development of
decay.
The advantages of Winter cutting
have been recognized by many users
of wood, among them practically all
of the government railroads abroad;
but for many years inspectors were
compelled to accept whatever material
was given theai, for they had no way
of knowing, except by actually wit
nessingHhe cutting, whether the wood
was cut in Winter or in Summer.
Finally a number of examinations,
studies and tests were made and as a,
result it is now known how to tell, by
appearance, the difference between
Summer-cut and Winter-cut wood.
Study of Western Hemlock.
The Portland office of the Forest
Service has recently published, in co
operation with the Timberman, the re
sults of a study of Western hemlock
(Tsuga heterophylla).
A study of this species was made In
1900 and the data published in the
form of Bulletlii 33 of the Forest
Service. The recent study, made dur
ing the season of 1912, was designed
to supplement the information gath
ered in 1900. For a long time West
ern hemlock was classed with its East
ern relative. Eastern hemlock,' and
looked upon as a "weed" tree.
A few progressive millmen, how
ever, realized its worth and did much
toward its utilization, until now it is
recognized as an excellent wood and
marketed under its own name.
The recent vstudy has brought out
many interesting facts about the tree.
Sllviculturally it is a shade-enduring
species, reproduces rapidly, recovers
quickly from suppression and from
flumage by fire or other injury and is
a long-lived tree, specimens from 400
to 500 years old being common. As a
rule mature trees are from three to
four feet in diameter at breast height
and under 200 feet in height.
Commercially the wood has been
found to be suitable for "boxes, floor
ing, Interior finish, sash and door
stock, furniture, fixtures, caskets,
cooperage stock and pulpwood." The
wood is fairly strong, even grained
and ordorless when dry. It is free
from pitch and does not absorb mois
ture sufficiently to make it swell or
warp. Of all the commercial uses to
which hemlock has been put pulp
wood is the most important and It Is
the most important species in the Pa
cific Northwest for that purpose. In
1911 68,111 cords of hemlock were
converted Into pulpwood In Washing
ton and Oregon, which constitutes 48
per cent of the total amount used.
According to the study "The origi
nal virgin supply of Western hemldck
Is still almost Intact." This is due to
the fact that lumbermen thus far
have been exploiting the forest which
contained the largest amount of Doug
las fir and the least of Western hem
lock. However, the records show a
marked increase In the use of this
species, the cut of 90,000.000 feet In
1908 increasing to 152,000,000 In 1909
and 248,000,000 in 1910.
The Forest Service would be glad to
furnish further Information to those
who are particularly Interested.
Interesting Statistics.
During the fiscal year 1914 over
12,000,000 feet board measure of tim
ber in Oregon and 2,000,000 feet board
measure in Washington were giver,
away under free-use permit. This
free Clstributlon is limited to J20
worth per year per settler, or about
80 f ords.
The excess in Oregon over Washing
ton is accounted for in several ways.
ThelNational forests in Oregon cover
approximately 13,500,000 acres, while
those in Washington cover only about
9,500,000 acres.
In Washington the forests are main
ly in the Douglas fir region west of the
Cascades and are not as accessible as
the east side forests, while those in
Oregon are scattered over the state.
In Easteru Oregon, in the dry region,
there Is little or no timber except In
the National forests and the farmers
and settlers depend upon them for
their wood supply. Over 74 per cent
of the free wood taken out was dead
or down timber, whose removal Is a
great benefit to the forest, as it lessens
the danger from fire.
In addition to timber given away
521 sales were made from Oregon for
ests and 112 from Washington. It Is
interesting to cote that this represents
24,594,000 board feet for Oregon for
ests and 199,146,000 board feet for
Washington forests,
Iss Timber rn Oregon.
Although the number of sftles In
Oregon exceeds the number in Wash
ington, the amount of timber is great
er in Washington because the sales
were larger ono was for 58,000,000
feet and another. for 50,000,000 feet;
whereas the 521 sales in Oregon repre
sent smaller individual sales, 93 per
cent of them being small sales involv
ing J100 worth or less. In Eastern
Oregon on one forest alone 164 sales
were made. The average price re
ceived for the timber was $1.78 per M.
The revenue from sales amounted to
$159,362 for Oregon and $?0,64T for
Washington. Thirty-five per cent of
this amount is turned over to the state
for road and school purposes.
' The grazing business, too, is heavy
on the National forest of the two
states. Last year the grazing privi
lege was granted in Oregon for 109,451
cattle and hbrses and 872,862 sheep
and In Washington for 14,571 cattle
and horses and 193,598 sheep. This
represents 2204 permits for Oregon
and 510 for Washington. Again the
difference In the business for the two
states Is due to the difference In the
character of the forests. The forests
of Eastern Oregon are much more
open than the forests on the west side
of the Cascades and furnish better op
portunity for feeding stock. Further
more, the Oregon forests are easily ac
cessible and usually fully stocked, be
cause the available Winter range Is
much more extensive.
In order to administer and protect
these National forests the Forest Serv
ice has, up to date, constructed tn
Oregon 427 miles of road, 263 miles of
trail, 2428 miles of telephone line and
79 bridges and In Washington 104
miles of road, 1529 miles of trail, 974
miles of telephone line and 53 bridges.
Not only does this Improvement work
aid in the administration of the for
ests, but it opens them up for the use
of the public,
There Is another benefit which the
states receive as a result of National
forest activities and tirat is la the
money which this branch of the Gov
ernment spends annually in the local
ity for labor and supplies. This
amounts to an average of $558,414 for
Oregon and $270,465 for Washington.
Forest Timber Sale,
The Forest Service la offering for
sale 26,650,000 board feet of timber on
the Crater National forest and the $0
day advertisement for sealed compet
itive bids has just begun.
The timber is situated on a tract of
approximately 2740 acres in T. 36 S.,
R. 6 E., W. M., on the watershed of
Odessa Creek, which Is Just south of
Pelican Bay, on Klamath Lake, and
30 miles from the town of Klamath
Falls, Or.
The timber consists of 24,000,000
board feet of Western yellow pine and
sugar pine, 2,000,000 board feet of
Douglas fir and 650,000 board feet of
white fir. The lowest stumpage rates
that will be considered for this timber
are $3.50 per M. for Western yellow
pine and sugar pine and 50 cents per
M. for Douglas fir and white fir. Ap
proximately four years will be allowed
for the cutting and removal of the
timber and payment for It, based on
the log scale In the woods, will be re
quired In advance of cutting In
amounts of only $5000 each.
This sale will bring into the Treas
ury of the United States more than
$85,000 and 35 per cent of this will be
spent locally for roads and schools.
Formation Explained.
Cut a cross section front a pole or
pole tie. Place it under a microscope.
This shows up the cellular formation
of the wood. In the center is the
heartwood. Next to this is the sap
wood, the living part of the tree, It
is to this part of the wood that the an
nual layer or ring is added and it Is
here that the difference in the time of
cutting is revealed. The first cells
formed in this new growth In the
Spring are open and thin-walled. As
the season progresses the cells added
are smaller and the walls thicker, un
til at the end of the growing period,
late in the Summer, the new tissue ap
pears almost solid next to the bark.
Thus, if the wood has been cut in the
Spring, the open cells show next to the
bark; if in early Summer, the smaller
cells appear next to the bark, but if
cut at the end of the growing season
or In the Fall or Winter, while growth
Is dormant, the full development or the
solid cells show next to the bark. An
expert may be, able to determine this
difference by the naked eye, judging
by the color. The open Spring cells
cause the wood to look much lighter
than do the later closed cells. It Is
this difference In color which makes
the annual ring discernible. -
Tests as to how much longer Winter-cut
wood will endure than Summer-cut
wood have not yet been com- -pleted,
but it may be safely assumed
that under certain conditions It will
last a year longer at least. On this as
sumption think of the saving to the
average railroad. Approximately 2800
ties are used to the mile. If ties are
changed every seven years there would
be required annually 2800 divided by
seven, or 400 ties. If-they served
eight years than the number would be
2800 divided by eight, or 350 ties, a
difference of 50 ties per mile per year
At 50 cents apiece this would mean
$25 per mile of track per year, ex
clusive of the labor to replace them
Think how much this would mean for
the 300,000 miles of main track in the
United States.
This saving applies to poles as well
as to hewn ties, but not to sawed ties
or poles, since the latter are cut from
the heartwood, which is not affected
by seasonal changes.
Water on Grazing Lands.
Farmers' Bulletin 592, recently pub
lished by the Department of Agricul
ture, gives some very interesting In
formation as to the means by which
practically worthless range may be
Improved by the development of stock
watering places.
Range cattle require from eight to
ten gallons of water a day and sheep
need from one-half to two gallons per
day. This Is a vital necessity. No
matter how good the forage may be,
if there Is not a sufficient and perma
nent supply of water near at hand the
stock will not thrive.
Upon the National forests the Gov
ernment has developed watering plares
In several ways. The flow from ordi
nary springs and seeps has been In
creased by digging- them out and
curbing the Bides with cement and
then carrying the water through pipes
to some convenient trough. Swampy
spots have been utilized by" cutting an
open channel from some spring in
their midst and drawing the water to
the trough.
Dirt flood water reservoirs have
been constructed to store the water
and thus supplement the natural sup
ply., Furrows have been run diagon
ally across slopes to collect the rain
fall or melting snow waters and carry
them to the storage reservoir. In cases
where the natural supply is 50 feet
below the surface wells have been
drilled.
In this work on the range to Im
prove the water facilities a total of
576 projects have been developed ou
the National forests, 829 of which
were developed by users of the range
themselves, 172 through co-operation
between the Forest Servoce and the
users and 175 by the Service alone. Of
these-676 Improvement projects 373
are springs and seeps and 286 are res
ervoirs, while the balance are wells,
trails and the like. In Oregon and
Washington 101 of these water Im
provements have been reported up to
January, 1914.
Copies of Farmers' Bulletin 592 may
be had upon request of the local Con
gressman or by purchase (5 cents)
from the Superintendent of Public
Documents, Washington, D. C.
No Reductions In Range.
As a whole the range in the Nation
al forests of Oregon and Washington
Is now In such splendid shape that no
fears need be felt that reductions in
the grazing privilege will be necessary
. for years to come. Only very Inten
sive agricultural conditions and a
heavy demand from settlers will jus
tify It.
When the forests were created it
was found that the range was heavily
overstocked and overgrazed. This ne
cessitated heavy reductions in the
number of stock. Reductions were
made for two reasons: (1) To stop
damage to 'the range and (2) to pro
vide grating privilege for deserving
settlers. For the past four or five
years, however, no reductions have
been made for any purpose. While at
times reductions have been considered
and even notice given to that effect,
the step has never been taken, and re
ductions will be considered only as a
last resort when all other methods of
Improving the range have failed.
ME 03 EH 33 333 U3 uaiEt
r M n I I
Besia the New Teat
with a course at this school in this
new building. You may have contem
plated such a course for a long time,
but simply thinking about it, will not
get results.
Wkea Promotion,
preferment and raises In salary are
considered by an employer, you are
not judged by the things you do as
well as anybody else, but by the
things you do better than anybody
else.
T Give This Etm
of ability that means the maximum
of efficiency is the aim (and the rep
utation) of this school. Our "Book
let F" will tell you how we can help
you.
Capital Business College
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Tm mkm IXtlMtliMrts,
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Burning
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Patentee aad Maaafartnrern.
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Bankrupt Stock Store
173-175 2d St., Portland, Or,
The Store That Will Save Ton Money
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We Abo Carry a Nice Lin of Store
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Come in and get our prices.
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made doubly productive by study.
iiig our complete courae in agricul
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SSSSSSS euaie what to do and
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!et results from land. Endorsed
by Home Industry League. Char
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and U0 other money making
courses sent Ft! EE. Dept. 0.
Modera School of Correspondence,
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