© 1953 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
FAST-GROWN WOOD, ITS FEATURES AND VALUE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CONIFER PLANTING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM SINCE 1919
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Forest Products Research Laboratory
The rates of growth and timber quality of the seven chief species of conifer grown in the U.K. are examined. These rates in the plantations of the quality classes expected to be most common in the U.K. range on the average from 8 or 9 annual rings per inch for Sitka spruce (Picea sitcbensis) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) to 13 1/2 for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). This is at least 2½ to 1
times as fast as the growth rate (20 rings and up) of much of the softwood imported into the U.K. from the Baltic and Canada, other than second-growth or other fast-grown Douglas fir. The evidence on the timber quality of the relatively fast-growing crops in the U.K. is encouraging, assuming that excessive knots are eliminated or reduced by good tending, including pruning where that is justified. The relations between growth rate and timber quality are reviewed in some detail, as it is well known that other factors, including specific gravity, late wood (summer-wood), and ring age or position relative to the pith are important. The relevant evidence from other countries is reviewed and suggestions are made for further research. In this field collaboration between silviculture and forest products research is particularly important.