UC-NRLF bfil 353 STUDIES IN WOOD DECAY 1. LABORATORY TESTS ON THE RELATIVE DURABILITY OP SOME WESTERN CONIFEROUS WOODS WITH PARTICULAR RE- FERENCE TO THOSE GROWING IN IDAHO University of Idaho, Bulletin No.l. THE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO P. G. MILLER, Dean IHLLETIX >0. 1 STUDIES IN WOOD DECAY I. LABORATORY TESTS ON THE RELATIVE DURABILITY OF SOME WESTERN CONIFEROUS WOODS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THOSE GROWING IN IDAHO By HENRY SCHMITZ and A. S. DANIELS I MVERS1TY OF IDAHO Moscow July, 1021 Entered in the Post Office at Moscow. Idaho, as a University Bulletin; Vol. XVI, No. 16 THE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO F. G. MILLER, Dean BULLETIN NO. 1 STUDIES IN WOOD DECAY I. LABORATORY TESTS ON THE RELATIVE DURABILITY OF SOME WESTERN CONIFEROUS WOODS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THOSE GROWING IN IDAHO By HENRY SCHMITZ and A. S. DANIELS UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO Moscow July, 1921 Entered in the Post Office at Moscow, Idaho, as a University Bulletin Vol. XVI, No. 16 . OFFICERS AND FACULTY OF THE IDAHO SCHOOL OF FORESTRY ALFRED H. UPHAM, Pn.D President of the University FRANCIS GARNER MILLER, M.F Professor of Forestry and Dean of the School CHARLES EDWARD BEHRE, M.F Associate Professor of Lumbering HENRY SCHMITZ, Pn.D Associate Professor of Forest Products JOHN B. TAYLOR, M.S.F Instructor in Forestry INSTRUCTORS IN ASSOCIATED DEPARTMENTS MARTIN FULLER ANGELL, Pn.D Professor of Physics COL. EDWARD CHRISM AN Professor Military Science and Tactics HARRISON C. DALE, M.A Professor Economics and Political Science FLOYD W. GAIL, Pn.D Associate Professor of Botany CUTHBERT WRIGHT HICKMAN, B.S.(Ac,R.) . .Professor of Animal Husbandry CHARLES NEWTON LITTLE, Pn.D Professor of Civil Engineering FRANCIS BAKER LANEY, PHD., B.S. (M.E.) ..Professor of Geology GEORGE MOREY MILLER,. Pn.D Professor of English EUGENE TAYLOR, M.A Professor of Mathematics CARL LEOPOLD VON ENDE, Pn.D Professor of Chemistry ALEXANDER R. WEBB, C.E Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering JERRY EDWARD WODSEDALEK, Pn.D Professor of Zoology V. H. YOUNG, Pn.D Professor of Botany T. P. JONES Representative for Idaho of Pacific Logging Congress SPECIAL LECTURERS FROM THE U. S. FOREST SERVICE J. A. FITZWATER Lecturer on Forest Management C. K. McHARG Lecturer on Forest Administration C. C. DELEVAN.. Lecturer on Forest Protection Main Library cs STUDIES IN WOOD DECAY II LABORATORY TESTS ON THE RELATIVE DURABILITY OF SOME WESTERN CONIFEROUS WOODS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THOSE GROWING IN IDAHO. HENRY SCHMITZ and A. S. DANIELS Intelligent use is a fundamental concept of conservation. Thus the recent interest in conservation has given an unusual impetus to invesigations making possible a more rational utiliz- ation of the various species of wood. Although information concerning the durability of the various American species of wood is rather meagre, Humphrey 2 conducted tests on both the heart and sap wood of a representa- tive list of American woods. The results of these experiments were based upon single specimens of each sample of wood and may, therefore, not even be indicative of the relative durability of the various species tested and since many of the specimens became too wet for a fair test, comparisons between his results and those recorded here would be of very little value. The painstaking work of Zeller 3 ' 4j 5 marks the beginning of a new era in investigations dealing with the durability of wood. Altho our results are not entirely in accordance with those found by him, it should be remembered that the species of pine investigated in the present study belong to different groups while those studied by Zeller all fall in the hard pine group. The work of Schmitz 6 indicates that there may be a great 1 Several investigations are already in progress in the Forest Products Laboratory, University of Idaho, dealing with the decay of wood and it is proposed to give considerable attention to this important line of investigation during the next few years. These investigations will include studies on the durability of the various woods, the value of certain chemicals as preservatives, enzyme action in various wood destroying fungi, and various phases of the general phenomena of wood decav. In order to show the continuity or relationship between these several R'r j em -?' ** is P r P secl to group them under the general title of "Studies in Wood Decay, of which the present article is Number 1. Henry Schmitz. 2 Humphrey, C. J. Laboratory tests on the durability of American woods I. Flask tests on conifers. Mycoiogia j*