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.
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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.
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The present study deals with the ground water table in the soil of drained peatlands and with the technique used for its determination. The terms depth and height of the ground water table are defined in the paper. Because of the fact that the surface of peatlands moves under the influence of a great number of different factors, the depth of the ground water table and the height of the ground water table are not parallel concepts. The present paper concentrates on the depth of the ground water table.
Observations on the depth of the ground water table in the sample plots in 1966-67 and 1968-69 show that the maximum of the late summer usually exceeds that of the early spring, and that the minimum occurring in the period of snow melting is more clearly discernible than that of the fall. Great differences occur in the depths of the ground water table in different sample plots. These differences are due to the specific properties of the peat of different peat layers, which are expressed in terms of the ground water coefficient. The duration of the depth of the ground water table proved to be a useful way to express the long-term changes.
Four kinds of short-term fluctuations in the ground water table were observed: a) the ground water table falls during the night hours, although the rate of falling is slower than in daytime, b) the ground water table rests at the same depth during the night, whereas during the day it clearly falls, c) the descent of the ground water table is similar throughout the whole 24-hour period, d) the ground water table rises during the night hours and falls in daytime. Occurrence of these types are discussed. Typical short-term fluctuation is the fall due to evaporation in the daytime.
The third part of the paper discusses the techniques used to measure the changes in ground water table.
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We studied variations on different traits of Parkia timoriana (D.C.) Merr. in twelve provenances systematically from their source of origin to a controlled environment where representative seedlings were grown. Among the provenances, P1 gave the best result for seed traits including germination traits, P7 for pod traits and P10 for seedling vigour. Effects of seasonal distribution of rainfall and temperature on seed and pod traits were also determined by computing multiple regression analysis. The results displayed winter rainfall and summer temperature as the most important factor determining pod and seed traits. Latitude also significantly (P < 0.001) affected PWT (r = 0.52), SWP (r = 0.46) and SW (r = 0.50). A common garden study for germination and seedling growth indicated P1 and P10 provenance as the best among all. Seeds drawn from P10 gave the highest seedling vigour with an average growth rate of 0.61 cm/day from 90th to 180th day. Highest broad-sense heritability values (h2) were observed in germination traits, followed by seedling collar diameter. The lowest h2 was observed for seedling height.
The objective of this study was to investigate basic density and its within-stem variation by studying 84 European aspen stems from 28 forest stands in Latvia. The studied forest stands covered all age classes from young stands to matured forests in representative growth conditions of European aspen. The densities of 2722 wood and 1022 bark specimens were measured from the sampled trees. Only the knot-free wood specimens without obvious wood defects were chosen for analyses. A map of basic density summarizing its radial and axial variations was constructed to show species-specific, within-stem variability and the relationships between density and tree and stand variables were examined. Stem wood and bark of the European aspen show different patterns of basic density variation along the tree stem. Wood density increases from pith to bark up to certain dimensions and shows a slight decrease afterwards. The weighted basic density of bark (446 ± 39.6 kg m–3) was higher than stem wood density (393 ± 30.4 kg m–3). Our results suggest that wood and bark density measurements obtained at breast height can be used for reliable estimation of the densities of whole-tree stem components, while tree parameters such as diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height and social status or stand parameters, including number of trees, basal area and age, are weak predictors in this context.