36 Circular 211, Dept. of Agriculture
a smaller scale is under way in Colorado and the
Southwest. At these various forest experiment sta-
tions intensive studies are made of such things as the
rates of growth and requirements of the different tree
species, what methods of cutting will be followed by
the best reproduction of the most desirable kinds of
trees under varying conditions, the best methods of
nursery practice and of field sowing and planting, and
how best to protect the forests from fire and other
damaging agencies. The relation of forests to climate,
stream flow, and erosion is also investigated. The
forest experiment stations are so located as to afford
a wide range of conditions in different parts of the
country. They are supplemented by diversified field
studies which round out a systematic search for the
basic knowledge required to make our forests fully
productive.
FOREST PRODUCTS
It is just as important to know what to grow as
how to grow, and just as important to make the most
of what is produced as to make the forests produce
more material for consumption. The investigations
in forest products closely interlock with those in
forest management. Their object is to bring produc-
tion and consumption into the most advantageous ad-
justment, from the standpoint of the public welfare,
through study on the one hand of the raw material
that the forests produce and on the other hand of
the requirements of our industries and their processes
of manufacture.
The bulk of this work on forest products is centered
at the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis.,
maintained in cooperation with the University of Wis-
consin. Here intensive studies are made of the physi-
cal, mechanical, and chemical properties of wood and
wood products. These include tests of the strength
of practically all American woods of commercial im-
portance, studies in seasoning and kiln drying, wood
preservation, the manufacture of paper pulp, fiber