Current issue: 58(4)
Silva Fennica Issue 80 includes presentations held in 1952 in the 7th professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the Forest Service. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation introduces the principles of business cycles and describes how they have affected forestry in Finland.
The investigation examines export sales of Finnish sawn softwood sales in 1951-1958, concentrating on the volume of the sales. The material was collected from the archives of Finnish Sawmill Owner’s Association and the Finnish Sawmill Control Organization and the annual reports of the former. Correlation analysis was used in assessing the interdependence of the monthly sales volume and the price, and opening sales and the total sales volume of the year.
A slightly negative correlation was seen between the sale price and the monthly sales volume. Goods sold at under average prices are more abundant than goods sold at over average prices. Generally, with a rising price trend, the annual sales volume increased, but with falling prices the situation was reverse. The sales volume has been dependent on the business cycle development of prices. There was positive correlation between the opening sales and the total sales quantity for the year. The sales volume was at its maximum in the period between November and January, and at the minimum between March and September.
The time of the sales made to different countries differed little judged by quarterly statistics. It seems that the major shippers have generally concluded opening sales first. Northern Finnish shippers and the small shippers of Southern Finland have sold proportionately least during the last quarter. In general, the poorer the qualities in question the smaller on an average the proportion of opening sales but the greater the share of clearance sales.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
Draining of peatlands to improve forest growth started to increase in Finland in the beginning of 1900s. The aim of the study was to find out which kind of peatlands are suitable for draining. The peatlands examined in this study had been drained earlier in 1800s for other purposes, and the original peatland type was deduced afterwards. When the peatland is drained, its vegetation changes gradually towards that of mineral soil sites, depending on the original peatland type. The article includes detailed description of the vegetation on different drained peatland sites. Best represented in the study were different types of pine swamps, which change towards Calluna or Vaccinium forest site type depending on the original peatland type. The Sphangnum species and brushwood disappear gradually and Cladina sp. become common in some drained pine swamp types. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) regenerates well on most drained pine swamps, and also Betula sp may grow as dominant species. The richer pine swamp types develop to Vaccinium-myrtillus forest site type, which may grow also Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). Drained treeless bogs change first towards pine swamps. However, trees regenerate poorly on these sites and the growth is low. Flark-bogs develop typically to treeless lichen heaths. Drained spruce swamps develop to forest with grass-herb vegetation or Myrtillus site type.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
An attempt was made in this study to determine which nutrients and in what amounts should be used in the fertilization of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedling stands on nutrient-poor open bogs in order to obtain optimum seedling growth and to minimize the risk of elk damage.
The most important nutrient to improve seedling growth in the experiments was phosphorus. Already rather small amounts produced a significant effect although the effect of higher dosages seemed to be longer lasting. After fertilization also nitrogen gave significant increase in growth. The number of seedlings damaged by elk increased the most on N-fertilized plots. Also, phosphorus increased the occurrence of elk damage, but effect seemed to be related to the better growth and more suitable size of P-fertilized seedlings. The effect of potassium on seedling growth and on occurrence of elk damage was negligible.
The PDF includes a summary in English.