Shortage Of Timber Research Articles

Willows in the service of man

SynopsisSome main uses of the versatile genus Salix are described. The basket willow industry, once nationwide but now concentrated in Somerset, is covered in some detail, noting the site requirements and attributes of the three main basket willow species, Salix triandra L., S. viminalis L. and S. purpurea L. The management of the crops and methods of processing to give the ‘white’ or ‘buff’ coloured rods preferred by basket makers are described, as are the ability and versatility of basketry to produce containers uniquely suited to meet specific needs.Other uses of the shrub willows (sub-genus Vetrix) are outlined, including the stabilisation of slopes and other aspects of bioengineering, amelioration of difficult environments and large-scale amenity urban and motorway plantings.Attention is drawn to opportunities to develop the tree willows (sub-genus Salix) to meet projected timber shortages, to the use of willows for windbreaks and shelter, and to the culture and use of that very British tree – the Cricket Bat Willow (S. alba var. caerulea (Sm.) Sm.).

Analysis of some forest management strategies in Côte d'Ivoire: a regional case study

Extensive forest harvesting in Côte d'Ivoire has raised concern over the long-term timber supply from the country's national forests. To alleviate anticipated timber shortages in the future, the Ivorien government is shifting its management emphasis to reforestation. This paper examines existing and alternative forest management scenarios using a multiperiod linear programming model. Three issues addressed by the model are: economic returns, timber removal, and timber inventory. Emphasis is given to individual firms and their financial capability to conduct reforestation. A regional case study consisting of six forest companies and eleven primary timber species is presented and examined.

Disequilibrium and asymmetric price adjustment the case of the Swedish timber market

The major question raised in this paper is whether or not the Swedish timber market is in a state of disequilibrium. In recent discussions it has been claimed that the industry has been constrained in production because of timber shortage. In this paper I abandon the assumption of equality between demand and supply. The econometric model is based on a partial price adjustment model which allows for asymmetric adjustment. The test of equilibrium versus disequilibrium supports disequilibrium.

An examination of the stability of regional lumber demand in the contiguous United States, 1950–1985

Public policy limits the quantity of timber which is cut from federal forest land in order to avoid a timber shortage. This policy has led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to employ forecasts of future demand for forest products, including lumber. Lumber demand has been estimated regionally, but demand parameters have been assumed stable so that fixed coefficient methods are employed in official forecasts. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that regional lumber demand parameters are stochastic. We find the demand for lumber in all regions except the Southeast to be fairly stable.

THE SUPPLY OF TIMBER IN MIYAGI PREFECTURE

The analysis of regional (local) timber markets is important in order to make understood the regional characteristics of the flows of timber. For this reason, the author analyzed the changes of timber supply areas in Miyagi Prefecture in relation to the rapid growth of demand in Sendai timber market. The results of the analysis are summarized as follows: (1) The timber supply area of Sendai includes Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures, but most of it is made up of the eastern region of Miyagi Prefecture and Sendai City itself. (2) In the eastern region of Miyagi Prefecture, the sawmills are divided into two groups because of their sales areas. The northern area, which is mainly concentrated in Motoyoshi County, ships most of its timber to Sendai and outside of Miyagi Perfecture such as Tokyo. The southern area, which is located in Ishinomaki City, ships their timber to the small local consuming areas of Ishinomaki and Sendai. (3) In Ishinomaki City, the largest timber producing area in Miyagi Prefecture, the location of Woodwork Manufacturing Estate for Sendai timber market affected the organization of timber supply. Up to the middle of the 1960's when the Woodwork Manufacturing Estate was established, most of the sawmills were small to medium, in size and used only domestic timber and shipped most their products to local consumers in Ishinomaki. Put, since then, some of the large sawmills and factories in the Woodwork Manufacturing Estate have supplied the imported timber to small to medium sized sawmills in Ishinomaki City and become wholesalers of timber as well. Consequently, some of the larger factories have come to control the small to medium sized sawmills in terms of the supply of imported timber. The existence of a dual structure between the large and the small to medium sized sawmills in the timber industry in Ishinomaki was to be noticed (4) In the Motoyoshi County, where is an abundance of forest resources, most of the sawmills which were established at the ealier stage, and most of their products were supplied to the consumers in Sendai, with a exception of a few small sawmills which met the local demand for timber. But for the past 5 to 10 years, most of the sawmills have started to ship their products to the markets in both Tokyo and Sendai. Owing to the shortage of domestic timber, the linkage with the Sendai market becomes rather unstable recently. (5) In the case of Sendai City, the size of mills are small, but sawmill operators also perform the function of dealers in timber market. This has been brought by the diversified demand in the market. Thus, it would be appropriate to recognize the sawmills in Sendai as timber dealers rather than as sawmills. They sell timber produced by other sawmill together with their own products. They usually buy timber and deal with sawmills in Motoyoshi and Ishinomaki in the wholesale market in Sendai. In addition to these another feature of sawmills in Sendai is based on the fact that most of mills are located in such a conjested urban area that they cannot meet the rapid growth in demand for timber.

Wood-Chip Industry in Tohoku

1) The development of wook-chip industry in Japan was originated in the shortage of timber for wood-pulp industry. Today wood-chips exceed all the other materials put together as raw material of pulp industry in this country. Therefore it is natural that the development of wood-chip industry is conditioned mostly by pulp industry and partially by fiber board industry which is closely connected with the former.2) The wood-chip factories are generally small in scale, and most of them are operated as a subsidiary business of saw-mills or furniture industries. But in Tohoku and Hokkaido the scale of the chip industry is larger than in other districts. There the materials of wood-chips are supplied not only from saw-mills, but also directly from forest areas, especially in the cases of specialized wood-chip industry.3) Wood-chip factories are distributed in the vicinity of saw-mills or forests. Moreover, they are located near pulp factories. Wood-chips are transported by trucks specially converted for that purpose.4) So, most of the wood-ship factories are controlled by the management of large pulp or fiber-board companies.5) The supply of chip material from each saw-mill is small in quantity. So the shortage of chips must be supplied with chips from the forests originally for firewood or charcoal.6) Demand of wood forwood-chips affects forestry, but the supply of materials for wood-chip industry is unsteady because of the incompleteness of forest roads.

Unasylva: A Forestry and Forest Products Review

THE first number of Unasylva, a new, illustrated, bi-monthly magazine of forestry and forest products, published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, is dated July-August, 1947. Editions are being issued both in English and French, and a Spanish edition is planned for the hear future. The aim of the journal is to shed light on all problems connected with forestry, to compare the methods used in different countries and to present the opinions of experts in the various fields. It is realized that the nations working together through the Food and Agriculture Organisation cannot hope to achieve their main objectives if due regard is not paid to the vast forests of the world. Conservation of those that perform useful social or protective functions is essential; their soils must be used wisely if productivity is to be maintained, and improved methods of processing and utilizing forest products need to be found. In the first number, Sir John Boyd Orr, director-general of the Organisation, contributes a foreword, while articles relating to the disappearance of the tropical forests of Africa, forest utilization, and the growth of the world‘s forests appear under the subheading "Problems". In the section dealing with "National Situations"are papers on timber shortage or timber abundance in the United States, and forest and forest products research in Canada, while a further part is devoted to a description of the scope and framework of the Forestry Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Distributing agents for the new magazine are being selected for various countries and areas. Meanwhile, orders are being taken by the Documents Office, FAO, 2000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington 6, D.C., U.S.A.

Skara Brae: a ‘Stone Age’ Village in Orkney

Perhaps the greatest handicap in trying to visualize life in prehistoric Britain is the exiguity of domestic remains, especially on the architectural side. The dwellings themselves were normally of perishable materials so that only their outlines survive, and of their furniture not even that can be said. An exceptional conjunction of circumstances has, however, preserved in Orkney a whole village belonging to a belated Stone Age, with its huts and their fixtures reasonably complete. The huts were built of stone; they had been packed in refuse and were eventually buried by sand, and so the walls still stand to a height of from 8 to 9 feet. The timber shortage prevailing on the wind-swept isle necessitated the translation into stone, and therewith the immortalization of articles such as beds, usually manufactured of ephemeral wood. The village is indeed a highly specialized adaptation to a particular environment so that deductions from it can only be generalized with reservations. Again, though the villagers used only stone and bone tools, they probably lived at a time when bronze, and perhaps even iron, were current in less isolated localities. Still we get here so vivid a picture of Stone Age life in our islands that a summary of the results of four seasons' work may be of interest even to the general reader.

Forestry and Agriculture in Great Britain

A RECENTLY published part of the Scottish Forestry Journal (vol. 41, pt. 2) contains several articles of interest for those who have some acquaintance with forestry practice in Great Britain. Perhaps the paper of chief importance at the present time is that by Dr. John D. Sutherland on the “Economic Balance between Forestry and Agriculture.” Dr. Sutherland's main theme revolves round the contention of the Forestry Commissioners that in view of the good work already accomplished, a larger grant should be made to them for the next ten years' work, allusions to which have already appeared in our columns. Dr. Sutherland in his opening remarks states that “there is the certain prospect of a world shortage of coniferous timber within the period of one forest rotation.” Opinions differ, as can be readily understood, as to the exact significance to be attributed to the phrase “the threatened timber famine.”