The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1914-12-03

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the sudden whitening and dying of
leaves during the sum mer so that they
turn whitish color At the base of
the part that is diseased will turn a
witish color. At the base of the part
that is diseased will usually be found
a lesion extending around the branch,
and upon the surface of this lesion will
be found reddish, yellow postules about
the size of pin heads, which are the
fruitlng bodies OF the fungus. The
spores liberated from these postules
and carried by the wind, birds, animals.
etc, will infect other parts of the tree
or other trees. Since this disease
works only in the bark or possibly the
the first one or two rings of the wood,
1t does not lnjure the trees for any
purpose, and the wood will remain sound
as long as tree that may be killed by
any other cause, which is usually about
two years. While no method of con-
trolling this disease has been found. it
- RNSSAcAS ~ NNEAsA It's olil eau W d
certain extent by carefully watching
its nrst appearance, cutting the dis
eased tree lmmediatly. and destroying
the bark. The usual method is to use the
tree as far as practicable, first peeling
OF the bark and then, by burning the
bark and branches on the cut stump,
the both
that may be on the bark of tn stump
will be destroyed. Since the blight has
not gotten spt1 Id in th4 county as vet,
BUTTS likely to app everyone who
owns chestnut timber should be on the
lookout and act quickly upon the first
appearance of the disease By concen-
trated action on the part of everyone,
1t is believed that much can be done to
prevent serious damage. In cases
where the disease becomes generally
distributed through a woodlot the best
plan is to cut and utilize as quickly as
possible all of the chestnut trees be-
fore they become total loss.
Forest management implies the hand.
ling IF woodlands according to certain
principles related to the laws Of tree
growth and to the marketing OF timber.
So far as comm ercial forests are con-
cerned the object of management in
every case is to produce the greatest
vhlue of timber upon given area in the
shortest possible time. In the natural
forest there is great amount of waste
which can be avoided by careful man
agement. In order to grow more tim
Der upon given area, We mist not
only encourage the rapid growing
species, but it is necessary to SURF .und
them with the conditions conductive to
the best growth and form development.
Volume growth alone is not always the
end in forest management. The quality
of product must also be considered. and
frequently the returns realized from
forestry will in the long run be much
greater by encouraging not the trees
that grow the fastest but those that
will produce the highest value of pro-
duct In the virgin forest most of the
trees that are now producing the best
saw timber required from $50 to 200
years to reach their present size and
development. 1t is manifestIy out of
the question for US to consider growing
timber on such a long rotation. 1t is
possible, however, to accomplish the
same results in a much less time by
applying the principles of forest man
agement.
The Importance of introducing better
methods of handling woodlands is ap-
parent when the rate of growth in the
natural uncared for forest is compared
with that in the planted forest. 1t has
been found that planted white pine UNI
der favorable conditions will produce
SOC feet OF lumber per acre in 40
years, whereas under natural conditions
of growth in the uncared for forests the
yield would not be more than one half
as much IN the same time. The large
forest area IN the county is now pro-
duclng on an average about Is cubic
feet of merchaEtable wood per acre
per annum. The very low production
is due to destructive fires and to the
destructive cutting methods that are
now practiced. The same area under
proper management should produce an
annual growth of three times as much
IN merchantable volume and five times
as much in value. The present lack of
good forest management in the county,
therefore, means a loss in possible
revenue of approximately $3.50, 900 an
nually. Real forest management, how
ever. cannot be successfully introduced
until reasonable fire protection is as
surred, because there is little induce
ment to make an investment now for
the Improvement of the forest when
there is more than an even chance that
a fire may destroy the improved forest
There is, however, much that can be
done by the woodland owner to improve
the character of the forest and promote
growth conditions at very little expense
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