Evening star., 1900-11-26
TOO MUCH DEAD WOOD
CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR FUNGI
DEVELOPMENT.
Trees Should He Cut Down After They
Reach q Certain
Age.

The ravages Of timber destroying fungi
in New England have been investigated re-
Gently by the Agricultural Department. and
the report on the results has just been COM
pleted. 1t shows that the conditions in the
New England forests are very favorable
to the growth and development Of these
fungi, the more so by reason Of the ever
increasing supply Of dead wood.
Radical changes will be necessary in the
present numbering methods in certain To-
calities before any betterment can be hoped
for. During the past summer the wasteful
cutting Of timber was noticed, particularly
in the region north of the Moosehead lake.
where the old system of measuring logs by
the top scale is still in vogue. The lum-
bermen cut the logs on the stumpage plan
and in order to obtain as high a scale as
possible cut the tree high up on the trunk
and low in the top, leaving almost half the
top in the woods. This is not only waSteful,
but the fungi spores spread from the dead
trunks and limbs to sanding trees which
might otherwise remain sound, and insects
similarly spread about. AS trees grow
older the chances of attack from fungi and
insects become increased. In the Maine
forests, particularly in the Rangely lake
region, trees have reached an age where it
appears that the rate of annual secretion
and consequently the annual increase in
value, is very small, while the danger Of
infection is increasing every year. Such
trees, the report recommends should be cut
Immediately where practicable
The principle should be established that it
Will prove more profitable in the long run
to cut trees after they have reached a GER
tain age to prevent depreciation due to the
attack of fungi or insects. Future investi-
cation will have to determine what the ex
act age is at which it will be most profitable
to do this cutting. Several fungi attack
trees after they have been killed by insects
or other agents. This is of great practical
significance, for it often may be possible to
harvest such dead trees before the fungus
In question has had time to begin work
Emphasis is laid on the statement that
dead tree is as valuable as live tree, pro-
Vlded its wood is sound, and it ought to be
cut Immediately. Large forests in Maine
nave been made worthless by failure to cut
Immediately, when killed by dark beetles
or other insects, or blown down by strong
winds. OF the fungi found growing on the
wood of the coniferous trees only a small
number bring about changes which COM
pletely destroy the wood. All the fungi
described in the report belong to the Poly
porei. Their sporophores form in the sum-
mer, discharge their spores into the air in
great numbers, and these are carried to
great distances by the wind. They germi-
nate under favorable conditions in wounds
or roots in trees and the mycelum makes
Its way into the inner parts of the tree,
where it 1ourishes until the fruiting or
gan is again formed. The number of dead
and decayed trees, the report concludes is
sufficiently large to represent a considrab BILE
loss in capital and warrants making efforts
to prevent the destruction of what would
be valuable timber if harvested in time