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