Current issue: 58(4)
The paper discusses the principles of forest management in the state forests of Finland, and the contradictions in choosing between the different land uses. These principles of the forest management are sustainable use of natural resources, economic and effective management, and taking in account nature conservation, protection of environment, recreation services and employment issues in all activities of the Forest Service. Even regional policy affects the management planning in the state forests.
A mathematical model was developed for determining the value of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) stems on the basis of sawing and pulping. The model was based on selling prices of sawn goods, pulp and other products as well as processing costs. Sawing was applied to large-dimension parts of stems and pulping to other parts and small stems. Bark and other residues were burned. The quality of pine stems was described by the distance of the lowest dead branch. In spruce only stem size affected the quality-
According to the results, the size of stem affects considerably the value of pine stems and clearly that of spruce stems. The main reason is an increase in the productivity of frame sawing as the stem size increases. In pine another factor is the higher price of sawn goods. The effect of pulp price increases as the stem size decreases. Even in large sized stems the effect of pulp was notable as the value of chips and saw dust was determined on the basis of product values in export. The competition ability of mechanical pulp was greatly affected by the price of electricity.
The PDF includes an abstract in English.
Totally 653 battens and planks sawn from butt logsof Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were chosen from 3 saw mills. The sawn goods were sorted according to normal sorting principles. In order to determine growth rate in the youth, the mean value of the average ring width was measured at the butt end at various distances from the pith.
The average ring width increased as the quality of the sawn goods decreased. The difference between the quality classes in ring width was measured between 2 and 4 cm from the pith. As the size of sawn goods, and, simultaneously, the log size increased, the average ring width increased in a given quality class. Research reinforced previous results, in which slow diameter growth of young Scots pines has been shown to reflect the good quality of sawn goods.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
A test sawing was made of 807 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) saw logs of varying size and quality. The most important knot characteristic affecting the value of sawn goods was the diameter of the thickest dry knot. The new minimum requirements for pine logs were proposed on the basis of top diameter of the log and the diameter of the thickest dry and living knot.
The PDF includes a summary in English
In order to evaluate the strength properties of boards made from small and large Norway spruce (Picea abies) butt logs, 15 small (top end diameter 13 cm) and 15 large (top end diameter 25 cm) logs were sampled from a sawmill in Finland. From each log two test pieces were made in order to measure the bending and compression strength, dry density and average ring width.
The boards from small logs were stronger and their density higher. When the differences between groups were analysed it was found that the strength was determined by the density and ring width. When the density was kept constant, the increase in ring width had a decreasing effect on the strength properties. Because there was a negative correlation between ring width and density, ring width alone had a great effect on the strength properties.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The purpose of this study was to measure workers’ exposure to MCPA and glyphosate when sprayers connected to the brush saws was used. A non-pressurized sprayer with a pump and a pressurized sprayer where dosage was regulated with manual control were studied. Exposure was measured from the breathing zone and urine samples.
MCPA collected from the breathing zone gathered into alcohol was 0.05 mg/m3 for the pressurized sprayer, 0.02 mg/m3 for the non-pressurized sprayer, and 0.04 mg/m3 (average) for both types of sprayers together.
MCPA in the breathing zone, collected from splashes and fog into a glass fibre filter, was 0.18 mg/m3 for the pressurized sprayer, 0.09 mg/m3 for the non-pressurized sprayer, and 0.12 mg/m3 for both sprayers used together. Glyphosate in the breathing zone, collected into sodium hydroxide was below 0.05 mg/m3.
In five urine samples taken after the work day there was on the average 0.4 mg/l MCPA, while in 21 samples the MCPA contents were under the definition limit (0.2 mg/l).
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
A material of 478 birch logs were measured. The horizontal diameter was on average larger than the vertical one, the difference increasing with the increasing diameter. The reason was supposed to be the effect of sweep and out-of-roundness of logs. The difference between the actual and nominal length increased with the increasing lengths, but decreased with increasing diameter.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
According to the available literature, the times when pulpwood limbing was made by axe and barking by hand tools, barking either had no effect on the pile density (if limbing quality was good) or increased pile density (if limbing was bad). When rotary barking machines are used, the branch stumps remain intact during barking. Therefore, if there are branch stumps in the pulpwood, barking decreases the pile density. Nowadays, when power saw limbing is a common practice in Finland, barking presumably greatly decreases the pile density, due to the fact that in power saw limbing branch stumps are numerous and high. Therefore, the method to estimate the solid volume of a pile of unbarked pulpwood are not applicable to barked pulpwood without modification.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
A method is presented in this study for calculating the basic density of whole tree- and logging residue chips and the results of trial measurements on some commonly used chip sorts. The basic density of Scots pine whole tree chips was found to be 1–18 kg/m3 smaller than that of pine pulpwood of the same age. The basic density of Norway spruce whole tree chips was 4–22 kg/m3 greater than that of similar aged pulpwood. The basic density of birch whole tree chips was 4–16 kg/m3 and grey alder whole tree chips 7–24 kg/m3 greater than pulpwood of the same age. The basic density of conifer logging residue chips was considerably greater than that of pine and spruce whole tree ships.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
This paper examines the changes in forest ownership and the farm properties for sale from a business economic standpoint. The changes in forest ownership are examined on the basis of statistics and literature. The empirical data both for farms for sale and farms sold are based on the purchases made by the National Board of Forestry in 1972.
There are a number of ownership groups actively buying and selling forest land, thus giving alternatives for ownership changes. The National Board of Forestry has been active in the market since 1960. For instance, in 1972 it purchased 60% of the forest estates it was offered. Of the forest area put up for sale, 75% originated from private individuals, and 20% from inheritance sales.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The material of this study consists of 1,080 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) saw logs measures in two saw mills in Northern Finland. The largest and the smallest top-diameter of each log was measured under bark. According to the results, the ovalness was rather small, 1 mm or 4.9% on average. On the other hand, only 14.3% of all logs showed a diameter difference smaller than 2%. The ovalness was larger than 10% in 5.8% of all logs.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The task of the study was to describe the opinions of the forestry experts engaged in the State forestry organization and the organization for promotion of private forestry, and of the appointed representatives in the organization for the promotion of private forestry concerning the official forestry administration and its development. The study material was based on two samples, one of 240 forestry experts and the other of 290 appointed representatives. The data was compiled by mail inquiry.
Forestry experts were found to rate the success of the official forestry administration in its tasks lower than did the appointed representatives. Both the forestry experts and appointed representatives were of the opinion that the official forestry administration has been most successful in accomplishing timber production and least successful in the tasks concerning multiple use of forests. The results also indicate that 44% of the forestry experts were of the opinion that the most suitable organization model would be a uniform state organization for both the State, and private owned forests. About a third of the forestry experts considered that the best model would be two different state organizations, one for the State forests and the other for the private forests. 62% of the appointed representatives were of the opinion that the best solution would be to retain the official forestry administration such as it is now.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
This investigation studies the effect of the retail price and the technical properties of preference ordering of buyers of power saw. According to the model derived, the preference ordering of power saws is due to technical properties xj. If no such restrictions in the function are supposed that could have bearing on the preferences of the buyers, there may be N ! possible combinations, when there are N power saws. If one can presume that each price corresponds with a technical level it is possible that each buyer has an optimum price of his own. The bigger the difference between the optimum and actual price, the less preferred the actual power saw is. In this case one may notice the amount of possible orderings is much less than that based on the model. Thus, the mode may be used.
In this paper some models are presented for cases when only n pieces of the population of N power saws are studied. 16 power saws of differing ages and technical levels were investigated. It was noted that many criteria of technical goodness were positively intercorrelated. The price correlated positively with every criterium used. According to the profile analysis, it was concluded that there were many development lines. For example, the idea of a light and the idea of an effective power saw.
According to the principal component analysis, it seemed obvious that there was little room for one- or two-dimensional preference ordering by the technical properties and price.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The present paper presents studies on the influence of some relatively common defects of Scots pine logs in Northern Finland on both the sawing yield and on the quality of the sawn goods. The study was based on test sawing of 25 logs for each of the defects (upright limb, heart shake and various kinds of wounds and scars) at Karihaara sawmill. The yield was graded into grades used for export timber according to the system of the sawmill. The proportion of the different export grades (U/S), fifths, sixths and culls) were used as characteristics together with the ratio of raw-wood consumption expressed as cu.ft/std.
Upright limbs occurring in a piece of sawn timber was shown to lower its quality to fifth grade in 43.5%, to sixth grade in 46.8% and to the category of culls in 6.5% of all cases. Only 3.2% of the cases the piece remained in U/S-grades. The size of the upright limb was the most important factor lowering the quality and affecting the ratio of raw-wood consumption.
Heart shakes are relatively common defects in pine logs deriving from over-mature trees. The quality-decreasing influence on the sawing yield depends clearly on the length of the shake in the cross-section. The same characteristics also decreases the ratio of raw-wood consumption. In addition, twisting and star shakes are considerably more harmful than straight ones. If rot occurs in connection with shakes, the places marred by the shakes are only capable of yielding sixth-grade sawn goods or culls.
Scar encountered in logs affect the sawn yield and its quality to quite a varying degree, but these defects themselves may also vary considerably both in size and quality. The length of the scar is highly significant as a quality-decreasing factor. If, in addition, rot is encountered, the defect is of a severe nature.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The purpose of this investigation was to construct a procedure for measuring the profitability of the use of waste wood. The average price a sawmill gets from the waste wood depends, on the amount of use compared with the waste wood output, and on the composition of waste wood. Production of different kinds of waste wood presupposes investments, therefore, the size of a sawmill, in addition to its location, affects the composition. The data was collected by mailing a questionnaire through the central organizations of the sawmill industry in 1959.
The amount of waste wood per standard of sawn wood increases with the size of the sawmill. Because small sawmills cannot generally use or sell their waste wood, they strive at using the raw material effectively. In addition, they produce much rough-edged sawn wood, and sorting is not as strict as at large sawmills. They also leave their sawn wood untrimmed.
Finland’s pulp industry has expanded significantly since 1958. This has increased the need of raw wood, and the demand of sawmill waste. An additional data collected showed that in 1958 there was about 150 and in 1963 about 200 sawmills delivering waste wood to the forest industry. The amount of waste wood used as raw material compared with the total waste wood utilization had increased about 10% during the period. The production of cellulose chips became profitable when the annual output of sawn wood of a sawmill exceeded 1,000-2,000 stds. The size structure of the sawmills affects the regional usage of the waste wood.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
This book deals with the Finnish Forest Service, organization responsible for the management of the State forests of Finland, since its establishment in 1859 up to the present time. Attention is paid especially to the following topics: the area of State Forests and its changes; the organisation of Forest Administration; the promotion of transportation conditions for State forestry; silvicultural treatment of State Forests, their management and commercial activity; the Forest Service as an employer; the State Schools for training forest foremen; the activity of the Forest Service as regards private forests.
The PDF includes a short summary in English, a more comprehensive history of the Forest Service is published in Silva Fennica no. 112.
The aim of the study was to compare the newly introduced brush cutter to ordinary hand tools in clearing of cutting areas and thinning young birch (Betula sp.) and Scots pine (Pinus Sylvestris L.) stands. Working with a prototype of the brush cutter, Brushmaster, reduced the total working time by 15-20% compared to bush knife and axe, in spite of the cutter’s weight. At rainy weather the advantage of Brushmaster dissapeared because of clogging of the cutter’s air filter. The prototype proved to be more effective when clearing a cutting area, and hand tools seemed to be faster if damage to the remaining trees have to be avoided.
In addition, eight either lighter or more effective motor saws or brush cutters were compared mutually, and the effect of motor effect, weight, handiness, arrangement of suspenders and handles is discussed. With these improved types of the cutter it was possible to shorten the total working time in thinning of stands (mostly clearing of young stands) to 30-40% of the total working time compared to hand tools. The most modern saws appeared to be best adapted in clearing cutting areas.
The article includes an abstract in English.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers working in the Finnish 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 decribes how the personnel of settlement commissions are to arrange travelling on settlement business, how travel claims should be written, and how daily allowances and fees should be paid and accounted for.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers 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 describes the administration and work of four settlement board offices, established in 1956 in Oulu, Kajaani, Rovaniemi and Kittilä in Northern Finland. The new offices were established to dissolve the waiting list of petitions, due to Second World War and increasing settlement activities.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers 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 concerns the evaluation of forest land to be surrendered for a settlement farm. According to the Settlement Act, state land surrendered for settlement purposes should fetch the price that any sensible buyer would pay in buying the land. The prices used in evaluation are, however, still the prices of 1944. A new method for calculating the yield in terms of value of forest land has been developed by professor Yrjö Ilvessalo, based on the König-Faustman formula. This method is described in Tapio Forestry Manual.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers 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.
In 1950s in the administrative region of Northern Finland 2,951 million ha of state forests awere under economic management while 3,285 million ha were not managed. Settlement activities mostly took place in the area that was managed, and where fellings were arranged in a centralized way. In these areas logging costs were minimized by, for instance, constructing roads, improving floating channels and constructing camps. This presentation describes ways to coordinate and rationalize both the settlement activities and fellings in these areas.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th professional development courses, arranged for forest officers 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.
The Land Settlement Act gives the landless population of Finland right to apply resettlement farms or supplementary state lands from Forest Service that manages state lands. After the Second World War the settlement work intensified markedly. This presentation describes guidelines for establishing holdings and supplementary lots on state lands.
Silva Fennica Issue 92 includes presentations held in 1956 in the 8th 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.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Marjanen, T. Establishment of holdings and supplementary land lots on state land
Lifländer, A. Centralized fellings in North Finland and the settlement question
Väisänen, P.O. Establishment of farms and their profitability with particular reference to agriculture in Northern Finland
Lilja, V. Forestry on settlement farms
Hyttinen, O. Valuable timber trees on settlement farms
Piepponen, P. Marking of construction and other valuable timber in the forests of settlement farms
Kotiaho, A. Arability research, its execution and information on the result
Karisto, U. Economic viewpoints in the establishment of a farm or a supplementary land lot
Linnamies, O. Calculation of yield value of forest land
Johansson, E. Viewpoints on evaluating settlement farms
Klemetti, V-K. Evaluation of growing stock in the pricing of settlement farms and composition of the total price of a farm
Leino, P.K. Special offices for settlement boards, their employees and the organization of field work
Nieminen, E. Charging for travel, daily allowances and fees in settlement work
The issue includes short English summaries of the presentations.
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 describes history of wood harvesting and logging methods used in the state forests in Finland. The article discusses the problems caused by, for instance, of light sellection fellings to the silvicultural state of the forests. The silvicultural state of the forest could be improved by introducing silvicultural logging methods, and selection of seed trees to improve the genetic quality of seeds used in regeneration.
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 describes problems specific to forest management of remote forests areas. The growth of the forests in these areas are often low due to, for instance, northern location.
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 describes practical training of applicants of forest schools in districts of Forest Service, and suggest improvements in the training. The forest schools, operated by the Forest Service, educate forest foremen. Before the applicants can enrol in the school, they are required a 2 to 4 years long training.
Silva Fennica Issue 80 includes presentations held in 1952 in the seventh 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.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Effects of business cycles on forestry
Forestry related legal cases for forest officers
Practical training of applicants of forest schools in the districts of Forest Service
Forest management of remote forest areas
Forest management in the state forests
Forest management of peatland forests
Mechanization of ground preparation
Review of field experiments on the fitness of certain chemicals for use at seeding
Review of field experiments on the fitness of certain chemicals for use at seeding
The article includes an English summary.
The article is report of the Nature Park and National Park Committee appointed by the Government of Finland in 1950. It contains a proposal for establishment of new nature parks and natural parks on state-owned lands in Finland. The article also includes a draft of act and decree for establishment of the new nature parks and national parks.
In order to replace the nature reserves lost through the 1944 Armistice with new areas and to create a comprehensive network of nature and national parks, including Southern Finland, the committee proposes new protected areas. The proposal includes the following nature parks: Jussaari, Vaskijärvi, Vesijako, Sinivuori, Häädetkeidas, Salamajärvi, Ulvinsalo, Paljakka, Runkaus, Maltio, Sompio, and Kevo. National parks include Liesjärvi, Linnansaari, Petkeljärvi, Pyhähäkki, Rokua, Oulanka-Juuma, and Lemmenjoki. The total area of the suggested new 23 nature reserves is 1,425 km2. The committee suggets that the administration of the new nature parks and national parks should remain in the responsibility of Forest Service and Forest Research Institute.
The article contains a summary in English
According to the second National Forest Survey, peatlands covered before the World War II 11,156,000 hectares, 32% of the land area of Finland. The early drainage of peatlands in 1700th century had aimed at preventing frost and increasing area of agricultural land. The experiences proved that drainage of wet forests was lucrative also in the point of view of forestry. The drainage of state-owned forest lands was promoted by the Crown Forest Committee in its report in 1900. The systematic drainage work in state lands begun in 1909. In the end of 1920s 500-700 km of ditches was dug annually.
The drainage of private lands begun after 1928, when forestry promotion work in private forests begun. By the end of 1950, 4,815 forest drainage projects had been approved by the Forest Service in the private lands. In addition, 286,000 ha of peatlands was drained on work organized by the central forest associations in 1930-1950, and 239,272 ha by timber companies in 1902-1950. The drained area totalled 755,892 ha. The area of drainable and drained peatland was estimated to be 4.4 million ha.
The article includes an abstract in English.
The government of Finland appointed in 1949 a committee to compose new legislation for Forest Service. The article includes proposals for a Forest and Park Service Act and a Forest and Park Service Decree. The proposals are based on the previous decree on forest administration. The committee proposes changes in the sections of Forest Service. The management of peatlands and forests of the state will be in a same section, and all issues concerning the private forests in one section. State forests would be divided in three districts instead of the present four districts.
The committee will make a separate report on necessary reforms in the administration of Forest Service to ensure that the state forests of Finland will be managed effectively.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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.
Forest Service begun the aerial mapping of the state forests in northern Finland in 1948. This presentation describes the state of the work, practices and methods of the work.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 discusses accuracy of the quality grading of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) saw logs suggested by professor Ilmari Vuoristo based on a data collected by Valtiala. According to the study, greatest inaccuracies in the grading by visual inspection was caused by differences between the evaluators.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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.
Quality grading has been rarely used in pricing of saw logs due to lack of knowledge on how the quality of logs affects the value of the sawn wood. This presentation discusses the subject based on unpublished data professor Ilmari Vuoristo collected in 1930s on effects of timber grading on the quality and value of sawn wood. The quality classification developed by professor Vuoristo is presented.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 describes benefits of the qualitative classification of saw logs to forest owners and forest industry.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 describes the uses and principles of different kinds of grading of saw logs.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 describes the grading of sawn timber for export and domestic use, and suggests improvements to grading of the sawn products in the saw mills to better answer the needs of export.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 describes the development of standards for timber grades in Finland, and the present quality grades of raw timber for timber sales from state forests.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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.
Lapland war in the end of the World War II left Northern Finland in destruction. This presentation describes in detail the work and expenditure of Forest Service in the reconstruction of the settelement in the area.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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 discusses forest resources and felling potential of the state forests in different parts of the country, and how centralized fellings could be arranged. Most potential for increasing fellings is in Northern Finland.
Silva Fennica Issue 69 includes presentations held in 1948-1950 in the fourth 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.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Opening words of the course
Large scale worksite
Use of machines in construction of roads and floating channels
Floating in northern Finland and its challenges
The role of Forest Service in the reconstruction of Northern Finland
Draining operations in the state forests of Perä-Pohjola in Northen Finland
General qualitative requirements for roundwood
Qualitative classification of saw logs based on the use of sawn wood, sorting and test sawing
Classification of saw logs
Benefits of qualitative classification of saw logs
Value grading of Scots pine saw logs
Accuracy of qualitative classification of saw logs
Modern management of personnel
The present stage of rationalization
Accomplishments in timber transportation
Aerial mapping
Use of aerial photographs in state forestry
Use of statistics in forestry
The article is a review on state forests of Finland. The aim of the review is to describe the state and management of the state forests. Low revenue of the stat forests has been criticised, and misunderstandings have led to economic policy that has had negative impacts on state forestry.
The history of forest ownership of the state begins from 1400th century when Finland was part of Sweden. The article describes in detail the different stages in ownership of state forests and development of forest administration.
Forest Service was established in 1859. In 1949 it had two departments, a private forest department and a state forest department, and four local conservancies, Peräpohjola, Ostrobothnia, Western Finland and Eastern Finland. The forests were managed according to a business plan, which was based on a forest survey and a long term silvicultural working plan. The business plan gave a basis for annual working plans.
The state forests are mainly situated far from sites of forest industry and large human settlements. This affects demand and prices of wood. Especially demand of small diameter timber has been low. Floating is the main means of transport of the timber. The article describes in detail the forest resources of state forests, forest management practices and changes in state forestry. Suggestions to improve the profitability of state forestry are given. These include, for instance improving transport infrastructure and the productivity of forestry.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation describes the principles of licence sales of timber in state forests. In this type of timber sales, a local forest officer has granted a licence for sale of wood or other wood products. The article gives a suggestion to improve the practices of the licence sales.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation describes budgeting of costs of delivery loggings, which have been at times underestimated in the practical forestry in the state forests.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation outlines the history of timber sales at delivered price made in state forests, and describes good practices to arrange timber harvesting locally.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation compares timber sales by delivered price and stumpage sale in the state forest. The buyers of wood have criticised sales bu delivered price from the state forests. The article discusses which of the type of sales is more profitable for the state.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation outlines the state of state forests after the World War II. The area of the forests had decreased and the loggings to cover the needs of war years had influenced the silvicultural state of the forests. The article lists the forest management work that needs to be done in the state forests in the coming years.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration in 1947. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications than Silva Fennica.
This presentation introduces the aims and work of Foundation of Forest Tree Breeding, established in 1946.
Silva Fennica Issue 64 includes presentations held in 1947 in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service. Two of the presentations were published in other publications.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Forest management and centralized loggings
Ecological forest management
Forest tree breeding
Forest management after loggings during the years of World War II
Forestry in Perä-Pohjola, North-East Finland, and Lapland
Aspects of sales at delivered price and stumpage sales made by Forest Service
Organizing delivery loggings locally
Estimation of costs of delivery loggings
Licence sales of timber in state forests
Application of labour legislation in forest work
Forest related issues of land acquisition act
Building of forest lorry roads
Planning of new national parks and nature reserves. The presentation is published as a report of nature conservation commission in the annals of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
Long distance transport of wood in the economy of districts. The presentation is included in the article Studies on factors influencing intensity of loggings published as Acta Forestalia Fennica vol. 55.
The article includes an abstract in German.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation discusses forest management practices of drained peatlands and the allocation of responsibilities in draining of peatlands between district forest officers and forest officers responsible of drainage work. Problems has occured in those cases, when the process of draining had lasted so long that at the time of final assessment of the project the first ditches have already needed maintenance.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation discusses the development of road and path network in state lands in Finland. The speaker wants to stress the need for systematic expansion of the road network, which would serve several demands in forestry.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the principles of bookkeeping and maintenance of forestry equipment, which reform was in progress in 1938.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the use and purpose of statistics about different felling methods compiled in Forest Service.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation presents guidelines for preparing an obligatory work program for a district of state forests.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the reform of localized forest administration executed in 1923 and describes in detail forest management in the conservancy of Western Finland.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the history of road transport of timber in Finland and discusses its significance and potential to forestry in the state forests.
Silva Fennica issue 52 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation includes the salutatory of Mauno Pekkala for the courses.
Silva Fennica Issue 52 includes presentations held in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration in 1938. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Greetings by Mauno Pekkala
National Pensions Act and withholding of salary
Assessment of forest growth
Root systems of trees and forest management
Nature conservation
Timber measurement legislation
Car transportation of timber and its significance to forestry in state forests
Forestry and tourism
Charcoal burning
Experiences in forest management of Hylocomnium-Myrtillus site type forests
Forest regeneration in Perä-Pohjola in northern Finland
Forestry in the conservancy of Western Finland
The right to use property belonging to someone else
Preparation of a works program of a district
Statistics of felling methods
Bookkeeping and maintenance of equipment in forest administration
Reservation of valuable timber-trees in connection to settlement activities
Views on road and path network
Maintenance of drainage systems and forest management of forests in drained peatlands
Regeneration of burned areas
Forest management of Norway spruce forests
The article includes a German summary.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes forest management in the state forests in the county of Eastern Finland.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes planning and organization of work in regional administration.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation summarises the state of road network in districts of Forest Service, the costs of road construction and future needs of transport.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes afforestation of drained peatlands.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes calculation of the annual financial performance of a forest district and a county.
Silva Fennica issue 46 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation includes the greetings of Mauno Pekkala for the courses.
Silva Fennica Issue 46 includes presentations held in the third professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in the public administration in 1937. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Greetings by Mauno Pekkala
Promotion of agriculture and forestry in Finland
Calculating the annual financial performance of a forest district and a county
Forest regeneration and soil
Afforestation of drained peatlands
Settlement in compliance to the Land Settlement Act in the state lands and role of a forest officer in management of the settlement work
Economy of a regional district and road network
Thinning of forest stands
Clearing of a felling area
Organization of regional administration
Inspection of forest regeneration of mineral soil forest types and drained peatlands, and inspection of ditches
Management of mixed forests
Forestry in the county of eastern Finland
Wildlife management
Fish farming and management of fishing grounds
Criminal law and forests
Factors to consider in forest regeneration
Forest regeneration in poor forest sites
Production of forest tree seedlings
Silva Fennica issue 42 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1936. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service
This presentation describes forest management in state forests in Finland.
Silva Fennica issue 42 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1936. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service
This presentation describes the productivity of forestry and administration in different districts of state forests in Finland, and how the efficiency of the administration could be improved.
Silva Fennica Issue 39 includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
The issue includes the following presentations; the individual presentations can be found in separate PDFs:
Practical forest inventory methods
Preparation of national budget in forestry administration
Peatlands’ suitability to draining
Statistics of wages in forest work and floating
Forest management planning
Parceling out new farms in state forests
Facilitating natural regeneration
Promoting self-sufficiency in food supply of the farms in the remote areas of Finland
Forest nurseries in Finland
Administration in the forest districts of Forest Service
Building and maintenance of roads
Practices of forest drainage work
Artificial regeneration of forests
Travelling guidelines and travel invoices in forest administration
Forestry statistics
Peatlands suitable for agriculture in state lands, and the factors affecting drainability of the peatlands
Planning of wood harvesting in Forest Service
Road units and right of way in village roads
Quality of coniferous forests and the value of timber
Use and accounting of funds of Metsähallitus (Forest Service)
Production of good quality timber
Planning and renovation of buildings
Observations on forest management work in state forestsThe issue 39 of Silva Fennica includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level.
This presentation describes the administration of funds and bookkeeping in Metsähallitus (Forest Service) in practical level.
The issue 39 of Silva Fennica includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level.
This presentation describes the quality of timber and coniferous forests in the point of view of saw industry.
Silva Fennica Issue 39 includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level.
This presentation describes how to make a document required in Metsähallitus (Forest Service) when a stand is marked for harvesting.
Silva Fennica Issue 39 includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level.
This presentation describes travelling guidlines in forest administration.
Silva Fennica Issue 39 includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the administration in districts of Forest Service.
Silva Fennica Issue 39 includes presentations held in professional development courses in 1935 that were arranged for foresters working in public administration. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service.
This presentation describes the peparation of national budget in forestry administration.
The article is a description of the 75th anniversary of Finnish Forest Service (now Metsähallitus, Forest Service), held on April 19th 1934. The greetings of the quests, presented in the Commemoration festival and Banquet, are included in the article.
The article is an obituary of Dr. Lauri Ilvessalo, who died in 1928. He worked as a professor of silviculture in 1918-24, and published numerous scientific articles on silviculture. The article includes his presentations on the state of forestry in Finland, and on the establishment of Forest Service in Finland and the public attitude towards the organization.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
The article proposes a plan to improve the efficiency of forest management in the state forests in Finland. The forests are situated mostly in Northern Finland. In 1926 the state forests covered 39.5% of the total land-area of the country, 13,580,611 hectares in total. A proportion of 52.3% of the land was productive forest land, 21.4% forest land of poor growth and 24.8% waste land. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). predominated 56.9%, Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) 30.5% and Betula sp. 11.9% of the productive forest land. The fellings have mainly been selective fellings of sawn timber, because the demand for small timber was small. Due to this, there is lack of seedling and young stands. Metsähallitus (Forest Service) has been able to increase the sales of small timber by increasing delivery loggings over standing sales. The net profit of state forestry was 136 million marks in 1929.
Several factors have had negative impact on profitability of state forestry: Major part of the forests are situated in Northern Finland, they are of poorer quality than the private forests, and they are located unfavorable in terms of wood demand. The means to improve financial result of state forest include expanding transport network, such as railroads and floating channels. The yield of the forests can be substantially increased by draining peatlands, improving the effectivity of forest management and increasing the proportion of delivery loggings. Changing the silvicultural practices alone is estimated to increase the productivity of the forests by 50–100%. However, the costs of the peatland draining and silvicultural work are high, and direct profits can’t be expected until later.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
A temporary organization for forest service was established in 1851 for the State forests of Finland. It was made permanent in 1859, and a central board, chief forest supervisors, forest supervisors and forest guards were appointed for the state forests. The Forest Research Institute, established in 1917, was subordinated to the Board of Forestry. In addition, the higher forest education was subordinated to Board of Forestry until it was moved to the University of Helsinki in 1908.
In 1921 the administration was reorganized to meet the requirements of developing forestry in the state forests. The Forest Service was divided into two sections: The State Forest Section and the Private Forest Section. The first consists of four divisions and the latter two. The forests under the supervision of the State Forest Section are divided into four districts, and each of these into two or three inspection territories. Under the supervision of the Private Forest Section are the forest schools, the Forest Research Institute, and the forest officials working for the ecclesiastical forests and Provincial Forest Committees. The Forest Research Institute is only nominally subordinated to the Private Forest Section of the Board of Forestry. It has 17 experimental areas in various parts of the country. These areas have been separated from the supervisor-areas of the state forests.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.
The objectives of the paper were to find out structure of the sawing time when using field circular saws, influence of the different factors on the sawing time and its structure, average sawing time per unit of raw material and sawn goods, and the fundamentals for the creation of an equitable system for the determination of the basis of payment in sawing work. The observations of the time study were made on both a single log and a work period basis. The material was collected using four saws of different brands.
The results showed that the season when the work was done, and top diameter of the logs to be sawn affected the constant times included in the total sawing time and the time used for sawing of center pieces. While the tree species did not affect the constant times, the grade of the logs of different tree species did have effect, especially in winter sawing. The factors affecting the different phases of the work are described in detail. The length of sawing time was longer in the winter than in the summer. The preparatory jobs in sawing required in average 82 cmin per log, and the time increased with increasing top diameter. The actual sawing is the most time-consuming part of the work, it took in average 132 cmin.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
Seasonal variation in the sawmill industry of Finland was studied in an investigation based on questionnaires answered by a random sample of sawmills concerning the time period of 1958-1960. The method is described in detail in a separate article in Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 75 no. 1.
The seasonal variations in purchase of roundwood was largest in big sawmills, which purchase the main part of the timber as standing sales and buy most of the wood from the State Forest auctions at the end of September. Also, they can afford to reserve their material earlier than the smaller companies. The saw logs are mainly felled in the winter in Finland because the climatic conditions and availability of labour are best at that time. Small sawmills begin fellings a little earlier than the larger ones.
In long-transport of timber the proportion of floating decreased from 47% in 1958 to 38% in 1960. At the same time, proportion of truck transport increased from 48% to 55%. Small sawmills use almost exclusively land transport. They received almost three-fourths of their logs between January and May, because the sawing is concentrated in the first half of the year. Therefore, floating does not suit for their transport method. The larger the sawmill, the later is the seasonal peak of log deliveries. The output of the big sawmills is distributed more evenly thoughout the year. The smaller the sawmill, the quicker is the turnover of raw material and the smaller the sawlog inventories.
The seasonal variation in output is sharper at small sawmills where sawing is concentrated in the first half of the year. The seasonal peak of the early spring is due to the aim at getting the sawn wood to dry early enough for shipments in the summer. Air drying takes an average of 4 ½ months. Kiln drying is more common at the larger sawmills, and gives them more flexibility. Due to the large seasonal variation in operation, the capacity of the small mills is poorly utilized. Domestic sales of sawn wood levels up the seasonality of the deliveries. Export sales are concentrated at the end and turn of the year. Also, the seasonal peak of expenditure occurs in the winter, but that of income in the summer.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The purpose of this paper is 1) to establish the possible seasonal variation of the different phases of work in the sawmill industry in Finland, 2) to study the internal and external factors influencing the seasonal character of the sawmill industry, 3) to study ha time lags between the work phases of the sawmill industry, 4) to analyse the seasonal nature of the industry’s money transactions, and 5) to give information concerning the factors influencing employment. The investigation is based on questionnaires of a random sample of sawmills concerning the time period of 1958-1960. This paper concentrates on the methods of the study, the results are reported in a separate paper in the Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 75 vol 1.
It was concluded that if seasonal variation in the sawmill industry is to be analysed on the scale it has been in the present work, sampling is the cheapest and most practicable method of collecting the material. If seasonal fluctuation of the industry is to be calculated by size classes, the sample must be allocated into strata by measuring the heterogeneity of the classes with a parameter illustrating seasonal variation. It might be useful to apply these parameters already when the total size of the sample is determined. For the smallest sawmills, for which practically all data have to be collected from primary documents, the most practical method is perhaps to send collectors to the spots. To the larger sawmills the questionnaire can perhaps be sent by mail. A moving index should be obtained for calculation of a seasonal index, but this demands long time series. The collection of the data is described in detail.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
Two lines can be defined in the management planning for the State Forests of Finland: 1) general planning for regions and inspectional sub-regions based on forest inventory, and 2) management plans for individual districts based on the revision of each district after 10–15 years. Long-term planning is has recently been alleviated by several new methods, such as stock-development forecast and yield tables.
A stock-development forecast and cutting budget were prepared separately for each State Forest region. The present growing stock was based on the data collected in the inventory in 1951–1955. Desirable stock for each region was calculated. The methods to calculate total cut during near future, allowable cut, allowable cut by timber products, the long-term development of the allowable cut, and conditions for realizing the allowable cut are presented in the paper.
The development of the growing stock towards a desirable condition requires also realization of a silvicultural program. Because the Finnish forest industry is expanding vigorously, the amount of the allowable cut on a sustained basis must be estimated carefully. Otherwise the demand for wood may exceed the supply. Though there are many sources of error in preparing a long-term cutting budget, it was considered necessary for State Forestry. An approximate estimate of the largest cut on a sustained basis and a program of silvicultural measures necessary to increase the yield gradually has been worked out.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
This study concentrates on claims made against Finnish shippers or referred to arbitration by foreign buyers. The material is collected from two inquiries on claims and arbitrations, sent by the Finnish Sawmill Owners’ Association to Finnish sawmills engaged to exportation in 1954 and 1958.
On average the claims concerned about 5% of the sawn goods exported from Finland. They affected about 3% of the deliveries from the large sawmills, 10% of the deliveries of medium-sized sawmills and 15–20% of the small sawmills. In large consignments of raw material, variations in quality are not so marked as in smaller ones. Also, the grading of goods is stricter in the larger sawmills, and as they have well-established business relations, they have better opportunities to select goods with a view to demand of the buyer and the marketing areas.
The ratio of goods claimed was least in exports to remote countries, on the Western European markets in exports to Great Britain and the Netherlands. In Belgium, the ratio was high. In 1954 and 1958 approximately 12% of the claims were referred to arbitration. The bigger the sawmills, then on average the smaller the ratio of cases of arbitration in the number of claims. In Belgium, disputes have had to be settled by arbitration most frequently. Over 90% of the claims were made because of defects in quality or condition. About 5% were in respect of the specification of dimensions, and only 5% were related to other reasons than the good themselves. The sums paid for claims connected to the goods in 1958 represented only 54% of those demanded by the buyers. It would perhaps be advisable to consider the formulation of generally acceptable rules of the grading of export timber according to categories of shippers with definition of the minimum standard for each grade.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The distances between the lines in the line survey in the first two National Inventories of Finland were too long to supply data for every State Forest district. Consequently, the Third National Forest Inventory offered an opportunity to supplement the inventory for State Forests in 1954 and 1955, and to gather data on forest resources of the State Fforests. On the basis of the results, a management plan for the State Forests was drafted. The first part of the paper describes the inventory procedure and results of the inventory, the second deduces future cuttings and a forest management programme.
In 1955 the total land area of the State Forests was 9.49 million ha. Drained peatlands cover 126,000 ha, drainable peatlands 798,000 ha and undrainable peatlands 2,621,000 ha. The average volume of growing stock in all State Forests was 55.2 m3/ha, including productive and unproductive forest land. The average increment in all State Forests was 1,39 m3/ha on productive land and in all lands in average 1,14 m3/ha.
Cutting budgets for the progressive yield were prepared by checking the silvicultural cut and estimating the allowable cut. They were made by age classes, developmental stages and for each region. The stock development was forecasted for a period of 40 years. In average the allowable cut was larger during the first decade than during the second. Allowable cut was estimated by the tree species and by timber assortments. The management plan included future forest management work, such as intermediate fellings, regeneration fellings, site preparation, artificial regenereation, tending of seedling stands, and draining of peatland.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
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.
The aim of the investigation was to estimate the changes in the price ratios of different tree species of sawn timber, timber sizes and qualities, the ratios of the prices obtained by different shippers and from different countries, and their changes, especially the trends and business cycles. The data can be utilized in the organization of sawing and the drawing up of the price scales. The price ratios were calculated by taking 100 as the basic quantity and calculating the values for the other quantities accordingly, the values are called price indices. The data is collected from the sales reports in the archives of the Finnish Sawmill Owners’ Association.
Comparing the ratios of the basic prices, the prices of unsorted pine goods by shipper B (the leading marks of Northern Finland), were considerably higher than the others. The North Finnish pine goods are of the best quality in Finland. The price differences between the other shippers were small. The prices of unsorted spruce goods differed very little with different shippers. In some years the basic prices obtained for pine from different countries showed considerable differences although, in the overall view, the differences were small.
In the leading marks of Northern Finland, the differences between pine and spruce prices was greater than the other price differences. The quality of pine logs in Northern Finland is extremely high. During the periods of prosperity, the price difference between pine and spruce was relatively smaller than during depression. With spruce goods, the relative price difference for the qualities is smaller than with pine goods. For the both species the relative price differences diminished with the increase in the basic price. In the broadest sizes of unsorted pine goods, the price difference of the inch class is much bigger than in the small sizes. This is true especially for boards. The relative price difference between boards and battens increased distinctly with the advance in the basic price. A similar, though not as clear change took place in the price ratio of board and 7” sizes. The price differences between battens and boards are much smaller for spruce than for pine. The trends of the price indices of the different sizes show from the middle of 1920s and as far as the 9” u/s pine sizes very gentle, and in regards of the corresponding spruce sizes, a fairly sharp rising tendency.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The investigation concerns with the strength of the eccentric growth accompanying formation of tension wood in silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) and downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.), behaviour of wood in wood-working machines and its macroscopic characteristics, its microscopic and sub-microscopic structure, chemical composition, resistance against certain chemicals, physical properties, and the strength characteristics of wood.
The most detrimental properties of tension wood used in wood working industry are high longitudinal shrinkage, warping, twisting and checking. The wooliness of the cut is unwanted, for instance, in plywood and furniture. In pulp industry tension wood is better raw material than normal wood because it yields more and purer cellulose than normal wood. However, it has poorer strength properties.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The objective of the investigation was to study the trends and fluctuations in the composition of sawn goods, changes due to business cycles, and casual fluctuations. The subject is confined to sawn softwood export to Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and France (The North Sea countries) in 1920-1952. The data was based mainly on statistics of the Board of Customs, Series of Foreign Trade, Finnish Sawmill Owner’s Association and the Finnish Official Statistics.
The North Sea countries took 75-85% of the sawn softwood exported from Finland before World War II, and 50-70% of the quantity exported since the war. Sawn softwood export from Finland is almost exclusively long and small-dimension timber. The composition of the export from Finland to the North Sea countries was defined already during the 1900th century, and no big chances were observed even during the period of 1920-1952. The only definite trend was decrease in the proportion of u/s grade.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The purpose of the investigation was to examine the seasonal pattern in Finnish export shipments and export sales of sawn softwood in 1927-1953. Statistics concerning shipments have been obtained from the Board of Customs, and material relating to sales has been provided by the Finnish Sawmill Owner’s Association (now Finnish Sawmills Association). On the basis of original monthly statistics, 13-month moving averages were computed. Finally, a seasonal index was calculated.
According to the results, the export shipments have a fairly apparent seasonal pattern with very low figures from January to April, a peak from June to August, and thereafter a gradual decline up to the end of the year. There are also considerable variations from year to year but in general the exports follow this rhythm. In contrast to export shipments the seasonal pattern of export sales is characterised by significant irregularity. Market developments and speculation play a far greater role than the seasonal factors. Indeed, a seasonal character in export sales can scarcely be discerned.
The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
The investigation studies the development of a logger’s daily earnings, a sawmill worker’s hourly earnings, saw timber stumpage prices and saw timber export prices, expressed in marks in Finland in 1913-1953, concentrating upon the trends of real value.
Although worker’s earnings in forestry and sawmilling have developed differently especially in the 1920s, the late 1930s and the early 1940s, their general long-time development has been very similar. On the other hand, the stumpage prices increased in real value much sharply than wages before the World War II. The real value of stumpage prices dropped because of economic regulation measures in the 1940s until regulation was abolished and the Korean War boom raised them in 1951, to fall after that. The development depends partly of the development of export prices for sawn timber.
Without changing the distribution of income from exports the real value of labour earnings, measured by export prices, may rise at most at a pace corresponding to the productivity of work. In logging there has been no actual increase in the productivity in the 20th century. As the increase in the productivity in timber transportation has probably been absorbed in increased wages and capital costs in the branch, a rise in forest labour’s real earnings and stumpage is possible only by means of a rise in the productivity of sawmilling or a change in the distribution of export income. It seems that from the end of World War I up to the middle of 1920s this increase of productivity and in export prices of sawn timber was shared only by capital and possibly mill labour. After that up to World War II stumpage prices rose so steeply that they swallowed the entire increase in productivity and reduced capital’s share of the export price. In the 40s the level of earnings followed the trend of productivity in industry, made possible by a sharp reduction in stumpage.
The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.
The PDF includes a summary in English.
Effectiveness of 18 different saw blades of wooden bow saw from four producers (Oy Suomen Sandvik Sahat, Epilä Oy, Ab Orsa Sågbladsfabrik Oy, Kone ja Terä Oy) was tested in 1937. The experiments were divided into test series according to type of maintenance of the blade and tree species (Scots pine, Norway spruce and birch) to be sawn. Each saw blade was sharpened into four different sharpening angles (54°, 60°, 64°, 70°). Four blades had markedly longer sawing times compared to the others. These blades had a special serration. In addition, two blades with sparse serration had slightly poorer results than the blades in general. When the tree species were compared, birch (Betula sp.) was slowest to saw followed by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.).
The PDF includes a summary in German.
Due to shortage of large logs, sawmill industry has been forced to buy also smaller logs, which also pulp industry uses as a raw material. Sawmills must be careful in the pricing of the logs, because profitability of sawing of timber depends on the size of the logs. These industries use different measures when they buy timber: pulp industry uses piled measure in meters, while saw logs are measured individually in cubic feet. The aim of the study was to develop sets of figures on technical cubic measure of a saw log and its relation to a piled cubic meter from the same log used as pulp wood. In addition, the effect of form class on the measures was studied.
The relation was assessed for trunks that had good, mediocre or unfavourable form class, which distinction is easy to make for a forest worker buying timber. The relations can be used by a buyer of saw logs or pulpwood who need to compare the prices or when the seller of the wood compares the offers.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
The article summarizes import and export of timber and manufactured wood products in Europe before the Second World War, and outlines which are the opportunities of import and export after the war. The evaluation is based on statistics of 1936 and 1937. The export balance of Europe was positive; when all the timber assortments were included, Europe exported almost 10 million m3 more timber than it imported. Export and import of round timber were almost in balance, whereas export of paper products was about 12 million m3 larger than import. Consequently, European forest industry reached its magnitude before the war through export overseas. Foreign markets have been important especially for countries like Finland and other Nordic countries.
The war has disturbed the markets. In a scenario where Europe remains a closed sub-area in the global market, there is 10 million m3 excess of timber and wood products. Within Europe, United Kingdom is the greatest importer of timber and manufactured wood products. If UK was excluded from the European market, it would mean a big change in the export and import balance within the area. In 1936 and 1937 the import would have been only 45% and 55%, respectively, of the export if UK is not included in European numbers. If also Russia is excluded from the European sub-area, it would affect especially the export of round wood, sawn timber and plywood. Nordic countries have accounted for about 80% of European paper products export before the war. According to the article, Finnish wood resources do not allow big increase in sawn industry. However, there is potential in increasing demand of pulp in continental Europe in future. In general, Finnish forest industry would have to decrease the production, if the markets would be limited to the European sub-area.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
The Second World War revealed some weaknesses that affect also peacetime planning of military defence in Finland. One of the shortages were lack of maps applicable in military purposes in Northern Finland.
The state forests are mainly situated in the north. Consequently, cartographic material of Finnish Forest Service may be modified with little extra work for military purposes. Best suited for the purpose are forestry maps of different forest districts that have scales ranging from 1:20,000 to 1:100,000. In addition, general maps in the scale of 1:100,000 or 1:200,000 are available. The article discusses further the additions that can be made in the maps.
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Residences of priests in Evangelical Lutheran parishes in Finland, and the forest holdings belonging to them, have been received in different ways. Some have been donated to the church, some belonged originally to the state, and some have been parceled out from the lands of local farmers. The forests holdings were, therefore, not considered to be property of the church. The use of the forests was limited, and they were managed by a forest management plan under supervision of Metsähallitus (Forest Service). The aim of the study was to survey the extent of forests properties of the parishes, how they have been managed, and their incomes to the parishes in 1933-1938.
The 784 residences had 217,600 hectares of forests. The forest holdings of the residences were larger than private forests in general. Also the forest resources, as well as the stocks of standing timber were larger than in private forests. The growing stock has grown further, because increment has exceeded the fellings. The fellings and income of the forestry had been increasing. At the same time, the costs of forestry were increasing. The forest holdings were divided unevenly between the parishes. About 15% of the parishes had no forest income, while the annual income of 10% of them was over 100,000 Finnish marks. In average, the forest income coverd 21.8% of all income of the parishes. Thus, the amount of forest income influenced the height of the church taxes.
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The consumption of wood and the value of the wood in the forest manufacturing industry in 1925‒1935 was studied using the official industrial statistics as the main source of data. The annual wood consumption of sawmills, plywood industry, match production, wood-wool industry, spool production, mechanical pulp mills, sulfite pulp mills and sulfate pulp mills was in average 15.6 million cubic meters, of which 4.0 million m3 was pulpwood, 11 million m3 saw logs and 0.44 million m3 veneer timber. The spool production used 163,200 m3, match production 39,900 m3 and wood-wool production 7,900 m3 of wood. When the wood consumption is at its maximum levels, the fellings cannot be increased sustainably. Thus, the sawing cannot be increased from the present level. The growth of pulp industry has created demand for small timber, and in that industry there is room for expansion.
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The article is a history of Metsähallitus (Forest Service) compiled on the organizations 75th anniversary. In 1859 a declaration was signed on the founding of a forest management institution in The Grand Duchy of Finland, then an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. The article follows the changes in the organization, administration and policies concerning the state forests. The development of forest resources and the use of state forests is discussed. In the early stages of the organization, the main concern in Finnish forests was forest devastation, and one task of the officers was to prevent unauthorized use of forests. in a decree, Metsähallitus was designated a central agency under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and was given the task of “managing, monitoring and promoting Finnish forestry”.
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A survey was conducted to investigate the domestic trade of saw timber in Finland in 1932. The inquiry complemented the investigation of consumption of wood made at the same time. In 1932 there were 383 sawmills in Finland, the total production of which was 814,630 std (1 std = 4.672 m3). Only 12.9% of the production was sold in the home market. Of the domestic sales, the share of costal sawmills was 25.7% and the inland sawmills 74.3%. The domestic sales were proportionally largest (55.5%) in the smallest sawmills, and they decreased gradually as the production of the sawmill increased. Comparatively more of the sawn timber of birch is sold in the domestic market than of pine or spruce. The depression of the building trade that begun in 1930 affected the trade still in 1932.
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The article is a review on the forest resources, forestry and forest policy in the United States based on the publication A National Plan for American Forestry, published in 1933. The earlier estimates of forest resources of America have been proved to be exaggerated. The annual drain had been estimated to be twice the annual growth of the forests. The author disagrees with the estimates, and argues that the growth, if calculated with the American method, do not give right figures of the sustainable fellings.
The situation is better than estimated. The national plan of forestry suggests that the public ownership of the forests should be increased to 60% from the present 20%. In addition, there are plans to introduce public control of private forests in the American forestry so that fellings do not risk the sustained yield of the forests. Rapid depletion of the saw timber resources in the North-Eastern and Lake States, and the high lumber prices lead to the assumption that the timber resources of the United States are in decline. The following decrease in lumber consumption lead to surplus of sawmill capacity, and to increasing competition in the sector.
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The article is a review on the costs of raw materials in the Finnish sawmill industry in 1920s based on statistics collected from the members of the Central Association of the Finnish Woodworking Industries (now Finnish Forest Industries). The article includes statistics about the average size of if the saw timber bought in standing sales from private forests and harvested from the industry’s own forests, stumpage price of the timber, and labour costs of the harvesting of the wood. The average size of the logs was greater in the northern part of Finland, where the sawmills could limit the purchases of smaller timber. In the southern part of the country, the size of the timber decreased in 1922‒1926 due to growing demand of the timber. The long transport distances in the north influenced the costs. The number of logs per tree increased during the period. The level of stumpage price varied considerably in different parts of the country, falling from the south-west to the east and north. Competition of raw material increased the stumpage prices in 1922a and 1926‒27. The international economic downturn influenced the industry in 1929‒1931.
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The export of roundwood from Finland was studied based on the official statistics of foreign trade. The volumes were converted to solid volumes under bark. Roundwood (logs and masts) or raw timber trade consisted mainly of saw logs. The main tree species was Scots pine (Pinus sylvestrs L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.). The annual volumes varied from 29,200 m3 in the war year 1918 to 657,200 m3 in 1924. Before the World War I the roundwood was exported mainly to Sweden and Russia, after the war the trade to Russia ceased. Also split spillet was a significant export item before the war. The export peaked in 1916 to 3 million m3, but decreased after the war to 30,000‒40,000 m3. The most important export item in the group of hewn timber has been Egyptian rafters, with annual export of 15,000‒284,600 m3 with the exception of the time of war. The export of spars exported to other countries than Egypt was highest before the war with 125,000 m3. The export of sleepers varied strongly, peaking in 1922. The total export of roundwood varied from 131,000 m3 in 1918 to 4.3 million m3 in 1927. Roundwood has mainly been exported to the European countries. Before the war, the main trading partners were United Kingdom and Russia. After the war the share of United Kingdom was nearly half of the volume, and Russia was replaced with Sweden.
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The main source of data was the official industrial statistics in 1911‒1929. The data was complemented with information from other sources, and the figures converted to solid volumes under bark. The wood consumption of wood manufacturing industry in the period varied strongly, being lowest in 1918 (2.2 million m3) and highest in 1927 (18.1 million m3). The wood consumption dropped during the World War I.
The wood manufacturing industry in Finland concentrated on sawmilling industry which has used annually 70‒80% of the wood consumed in the whole wood manufacturing industry. Other sectors of industry using wood were plywood industry, wood-wool industry, spool factories, match industry, mechanical pulpwood industry and pulp industry.
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The article describes the evolution of sawmills, focusing on four parts: the frame and sliding devices, the fastening of the blade into the frame, appliances for fastening the timber, and feeding devices. The earlier equipment had adaptability that has been lost in the more developed equipment, because the raw materials have been too expensive and hard to acquire, among other things. It is remarked that many inventions of the sawmills have not been adopted in the actual equipment.
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The survey focuses on the stumpage prices of standing sales, where the buyer of the wood takes care of felling and transport of the timber. The study concentrates further on conifer sawn timber. The prices of the sawn timber rose continuously from 1891 to 1910. After 1913 the stumpage price fluctuations reflected the changes in the market. The article includes a detailed description on the changes of the saw timber in 1913-1922 and the factors affecting the prices. The prices are shown for different parts of the Finland. The first world war affects the prices and demand on saw timber in 1917-1918. In Northern Finland the prices of sawn timber increased slower than in Southern Finland. In general, the unfavorable factors have had stronger impact on the stumpage prices than the favorable.
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Work in the forestry, for instance, in logging operation during winter, has been important source of employment for the rural population in Finland. The study is based on statistics of forest work, felling, felled timber, workforce and horses used in the forest work in the state forests, published in the annual reports of Metsähallitus (Forest Service) in 1911-1913. The administrative and silvicultural work, for instance, sowing and planting, clearing of the felling area, building forest roads or work in the nurseries, range from 20% to 22% of all work done in the forestry. Major part of the work time is used in felling. To harvest one cubic meter of timber requires 0.3 man-days and 0.2 horse-days. The work is seasonal; felling work is available for about 90-100 days a year. Forest haulage is possible only in the winter, and for instance sowing and planting in the summer. The employees have secondary jobs in agriculture and in other sectors.
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The income of forestry in the state lands was 136 million Finnish marks, expenditure 65 million Finnish marks and the result 71 million Finnish marks in 1920. Both the income and expenditure had steadily increased during the 1900s. The forests in state lands are poorer than the forests in the country in average, which affects the profitability of forestry. However, ways to improve the profitability could be found. These include better transport connections, especially floating in Northern Finland. The growth of the forest could be increased by forest improvement, for instance peatland draining. The local demand of wood could be improved by selling rights to harvest household wood.
The influence of log properties (diameter, length, taper, volume, density and quality), sawing pattern, yield, sawing efficacy, stoppages, consumption of electric power and thereby on the financial result of sawing was examined. In addition, the significance of various revenues and costs were studied from the point of view of the financial result of sawing. The revenues from sawing are composed of revenues obtained from sawn goods, chips, sawdust and bark. The costs in sawing are made of raw material, capital, labour, energy and other costs. The results were calculated per diameter class and applying the basic principle of targeting all returns and costs on the different diameter classes.
The results are based on test sawings of a total of 1,606 Scots pine logs representing eight diameter classes, using conventional frame saw sawing patterns. In addition, a sawing simulator was used. Log top diameter had a significant influence on the financial result obtained when calculations were made per log volume. The financial result obtained for the biggest diameter class exceeded that of the smallest diameter class by FIM 99.1/m3. Sawing revenues accounted for FIM 66.0/m3 and sawing costs for FIM 33.1/m3 of this difference. In addition to being influenced by the top diameter, the yield and sawing efficacy were observed to have a clear influence on the financial result. The influence of stoppages was smaller.
The only means of gaining significant improvement in the annual result obtained from sawing were improvements in the revenues from sawn goods or reductions in the cost of raw material. Increase of the minimum diameter led to a significant improvement in the annual result obtainable from sawing only if the production time remained unchanged; i.e., when correspondingly more logs from the other diameter classes were sawn. If the production time was reduced by an amount corresponding to the increase in minimum diameter, then the annual result fell dramatically except in the case of minimum diameter.
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Residue of the wood is good raw material for pulp and board industries, but the question of the use of barking waste still remains to a great extent unsolved. This research deals with the possibilities to utilize the barking waste of sawmill industry in general and, in particular, its use as a soil improver and substrate for plants. It also explains the industrial manufacturing method of composted bark, bark humus, developed by the author as well as the properties of bark humus and the economy of bark humus and the economy of manufacturing.
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The purpose of the present investigation was to study the extent of human interference with the forests of different epochs in the district of north Ostrobothnia in Northern Finland, and its effect on the condition of the forests.
The study revealed that the quantities of wood removed were not most detrimental to the condition of the forest; the regionally irregular loggings and the logging methods employed were the most harmful. The old forms of wood utilization, tar industry, shipbuilding, sawmill industry and timber exports, were characterized by timber selection. Public opinion considered it the only recognized cutting method long after the conditions had changed and silvicultural methods should have been used.
The spread and abandonment of selection cuttings are illustrated in the results of first National Forest Surveys in Finland. According to the first survey (1921–1924), nearly half of the loggings in the province of Oulu were based on selection, which spoiled and devastated 41% of the forests. In the 1930s one-fifth of the North Ostrobothnian forests were weakened by selection cuttings, in 1960s the figure was 6%. The article also summarises the extent of tar and pitch production, sawmill industry, shipbuilding and household wood consumption of wood in the area.
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The aim of the study was to find out the ratio of raw wood consumption and the quantity and quality of the sawing yield using circular saws. The unit of study was one single log, the Norway spruce logs were divided into two grades and Scots pine logs in three grades. The principal material of the study was collected in 1950-51 using four types of saws of type EKA-50. The data consisted of 1,690 logs.
On the basis of the material, the efficiency of centre-piece sawing was 63.9% of the technical volume. On the average, 32.1% was unsorted goods, 11.5% fifths, 19.1% sixths and 1.2% culls. For spruce, the efficiency was superior to pine, which means that the consumption of raw wood for preparation of one standard of sawn goods is smaller in spruce than in pine. The volume of side boards trimmed reached about 2% of the total log volume. The efficiency of sawing and the ratio of raw-wood consumption were calculated both on the basis of the estimated and actual volume of trimmed goods. The raw-wood consumption is particularly good in logs of small and large top-diameter.
Goods sawn with circular saw have a characteristic shape. They are thinner at the ends than in the middle parts, and the deviation from the correct measure is larger in the first than in the last end of the pieces. They are also wedge-shaped because of the first piece sawn is thinner than the second one. The deviation from the correct measure exceeded the allowance for shrinking in seasoning. The goods are often under sized even if surplus measure occurs. In goods sawn using frame saws, however, it was difficult to discover any deviation from the correct measure.
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