Wood Quality and the Marketplace Feedback from timber industry representatives at a recent clonal forestry field day has confirmed that the qualities the Forest Service has been testing for in the field are those that are important in the market place. Wood quality is measured via sample cores that are removed and tested for basic density and spiral grain angle. The relationship between wood strength and basic density allows for identification of trees that will provide stronger timber. Spiral grain angle provides an indication of the tendency for wood to twist during drying or in use. The face to face consultation with industry representatives was the first step in what will become a continuing process between the Forest Service, wood processors, wood product manufacturers and wood growers to improve the plantation resources in Queensland.
Clonal forestry is the way of the future.
While its popular image carries overtones of genetic engineering, of producing new trees which owe nothing to nature, seed production or pollination, the Forest Service program will include continued breeding, continual fresh clone production, continued testing and an ongoing and vigorous research program that should put it at the forefront of new directions in global forestry.