Report on Forest Research 1961 and 1962
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Forestry Commission ARCHIVE Aerial view of Alice Holt Research Station, showing the old building in the centre, the new wing to the left, and the experimental grounds. Alice Holt Forest lies beyond. FORESTRY COMMISSION REPORT ON FOREST RESEARCH for the year ended March, 1961 LONDON HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE 1962 ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON FOREST RESEARCH Membership as at 31st March, 1961 Chairman Lord R a d n o r , k .g ., k .c .v .o . Members M r. F. C. B a w d e n , f .r .s. Director, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts. Professor R. W. R o g e r s B r a m b e l l , f .r .s. Professor of Zoology, University College of North Wales, Bangor. Professor R. B r o w n , f .r .s., Professor of Botany, University of Edinburgh. Dr. D. J. F i n n e y , f .r .s., Director, Agricultural Research Council Unit of Statistics, Aberdeen. D r. J. W. G r e g o r , c .b .e ., f . l . s ., Director, Scottish Society for Research in Plant Breeding, Roslin, Midlothian. D r. A. C. C o p i s a r o w , Director, Forest Products Research Laboratory, Princes Risborough, Bucks. M r. G . V. J a c k s , Director, Commonwealth Bureau of Soils, Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts. Professor E. C. M o b b s , o .b .e ., Professor of Forestry, University College of North Wales, Bangor. Professor W. H. P e a r s a l l , f .r .s., formerly Quain Professor of Botany, University of London. Professor R. D. P r e s t o n , f .r .s., Professor of Plant Biophysics, University of Leeds. Professor H. M. S t e v e n , c .b .e ., Professor of Forestry, University of Aberdeen. D r. A. B. St e w a r t , Director, Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen. Secretary M r. T. R. P e a c e , Forest Research Station, Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Lodge, Wrecclesham, Farnham, Surrey. ii CONTENTS Page I ntroduction by James Macdonald, Deputy Director General . vii Summ ary of th e Y ear ’s W o r k by T. R. Peace, Chief Research Officer . 1 P A R T I REPORTS ON WORK CARRIED OUT BY FORESTRY COMMISSION RESEARCH STAFF Forest Tree Seed by G. D. Holmes and G. M. Buszewicz. 16 Nursery Investigations by J. R. Aldhous and J. Atterson 19 Silvicultural Investigations in the Forest: South and Central England and Wales by R. F. Wood, G. D. Holmes and A. I. Fraser ......... 24 Scotland and North England by M. V. Edwards, R. Lines, S. A. Neustein, D. W. Henman and J. Atterson ..... 34 Provenance Studies by R. Lines and J. R. Aldhous . 37 Poplars and Elms by J. Jobling . 41 Forest Ecology by J. M. B. Brown ..... 4 5 Forest Soils by W. H. Hinson ........ 48 Forest Genetics by J. D. Matthews, A. F. Mitchell and R. Faulkner . 50 Forest Pathology by J. S. Murray . .57 Forest Entomology by D. Bevan ....... 60 Grey Squirrel Research by H. G. Lloyd, J. F. Shillito and L. A. Tee . 63 Forest Management and Working Plans by F. C. Hummel . 64 Mensuration by R. T. Bradley, J. M. Christie and A. M. Mackenzie 65 Forest Economics and Census by A. J. Grayson . 69 Work Study by J. W. L. Zehetmayr . 73 Utilisation Development by E. G. Richards . 78 Machinery Research by R. G. Shaw .... 79 Design and Analysis of Experiments by J. N. R. Jeffers 81 Library and Documentation by R. M. G. Semple 85 Photography by I. A. Anderson . 86 iii PART II RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN FOR THE FORESTRY COMMISSION, OR WITH THEIR ASSISTANCE, BY WORKERS AT UNIVERSITIES OR OTHER INSTITUTIONS Page Research on Scottish Forest Soils by W. O. Binns, Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen ........ 87 Nutrition Experiments in Forest Nurseries by B. Benzian, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts. ..... 89 Protein-fixing Constituents of Plants, Part III by B. R. Brown and C. W. Love, Dyson Perrins Laboratory, Oxford University .... 90 Biology of Forest Soils by G. W. Heath, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts. ........ 92 Soil Fauna Research by D. R. Gifford, Department o f Forestry, Univer sity of Edinburgh.......... 94 Studies in Soil Mycology, V: Mycostasis in Soils by C. G. Dobbs and D. A. Griffiths, Forest Botany Section, University College o f North Wales, Bangor .......... 95 Hydrological Relations of Forest Stands by L. Leyton and E. R. C. Reynolds, Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford . 100 Shelter Research by R. Baltaxe, Department of Forestry, University of Edinburgh ........... 101 Fire Spread in Forest and Heathland Materials by P. H. Thomas and R. W. Pickard,Fire Research Station, Boreham Wood,Herts. Plates 6 & 7 105 Oak Population Studies in Scotland, I: Variation of Some Important Diagnostic Characters of Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Q. robur L. by J. E. Cousens, Department of Forestry, University of Edinburgh 109 Tracheid Length on Corsican Pine by L. Chalk and J. Ladell, Common wealth Forestry Institute, Oxford . .113 The Juvenility Problem in Woody Plants by P. F. Wareing and L. W. Robinson, Department o f Botany, University College o f Wales, Aberystwyth . .114 The Effects of Stump Treatments on Fungal Colonisation of Conifer Stumps by D. Punter, Botany School, University of Cambridge . 115 Studies on the Fungus Fomes Annosus by J. Rishbeth, Botany School, University o f Cambridge . .116 PART III REPORTS ON RESULTS OF INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATIONS Page The Longevity of Beechnuts in Relation to Storage Conditions by G. Buszewicz . , .117 iv Page Experiences with Leguminous Nurses in Forestry by M. Nimmo and J. Weatherell Plates 8, 9, 10 and 11 ...... 126 Provenance of Sitka Spruce: An Account of the Nursery Stage of Experiments Sown in 1958 by J. R. Aldhous . .147 Simazine - A Weedkiller for Forest Nurseries by J. R. Aldhous . 154 Westonbirt Arboretum by R. F. Wood Plate 12 . 166 The Protection of Replanted Groups Within Coniferous Forest Against Roe Deer by G. G. Stewart and S. A. Neustein . .170 Fecundity of the Pine Looper Moth, Bupalus piniarius, by D. Bevan and A. Paramonov .......... 174 The Pine Looper Moth, Bupalus piniarius, at Cannock Chase in 1960 by J. M. Davies .......... 176 The Effect of High Pruning on the Cost of Bark-peeling Scots Pine Thinnings by D. W. Henman . .182 Preliminary Trials of Chemicals for De-barking Hardwood Pulpwood by G. D. Holmes . .184 The Application of Electronic Computing to Forest Inventory by D. R. Johnston ........... 196 APPENDICES I. Main Experimental Projects and Localities . 203 II. Staff List . 206 III. List of Publications . 208 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Plates 6 and 7 were provided by the Fire Research Station. Plate 12. is from a photograph by Mr. J. D. U. Ward. All the other photographs are drawn from the Forestry Commission’s own collection, and all the text figures are based on data provided by the respective authors. v INTRODUCTION By JAMES MACDONALD Deputy Director General During the year under review, there have been several changes in the Research staff. Mr. G. D. Kitchingman retired in October 1960 after 13 years’ service as Librarian at Alice Holt and was replaced by Mr. R. M. G. Semple. Dr. M. Crooke resigned in October 1960 on appointment as Lecturer in Forest Zoology in the University of Aberdeen, and in February 1961 Mr. J. S. Murray, Forest Pathologist, left for the same University in which he has become Senior Lecturer on Forest Botany. Dr. Crooke was replaced by Mr. D. Bevan, while the Path ology section has been placed temporarily in the charge of Dr. R. G. Pawsey. Mr. G. G. Stewart, one of the silvicultural research officers in Scotland, was transferred to field duties on promotion and his post in research was filled by Mr. S. A. Neustein, transferred from the South Conservancy in Scotland. Mr. K. D. Taylor, who was engaged on research on squirrels, resigned in November 1960. Mr. R. T. Bradley and Mr. R. E. F. Heslop joined the staff in October, the former to work in Mensuration and the latter on Working Plans. Mr. D. H. Stewart was appointed to the Statistics section as Experimental Officer. Visitors to Alice Holt numbered 300, rather fewer than in recent years. In addition to visitors from this country, they came from Australia, Belgium, Burma, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, France, Ghana, Germany, Italy, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Rhodesia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tasmania, United States of America, and Yugoslavia. Among them were Mr. V. L. Grenning, Director of Forestry in Queensland, Mr. A. L. Poole, Assistant Director of Forestry in New Zealand, Mr. C. A. R. Bhadran, Chief Conservator of Forests for Madras, India, and Mr. V. H. Phelps from the Forest Research Division, Canada. A party of students from l’Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forets at Nancy, during their first visit to this country, were engaged on a study tour which in cluded various of our experimental areas as well as a visit to Alice Holt. Other organised visits to Alice Holt included the Senior Forestry Officers of the Over seas Colonial Service, and a party of Yugoslav Forest Officers. Forestry students from the Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford, from the Universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and the University College of North Wales at Bangor, paid their annual visits to the Research Station. Several visitors spent longer periods at the Research Station. Among these was Mr. M. R. Badan from Switzerland who started a year’s work with the Management Section in August 1960; in the same section, Mr. M. A. Solak from Turkey, visiting England for a year, under a Baghdad Pact Fellowship, has spent several periods with the Research Branch, alternating with work at Oxford.