West Virginia University Division of Forestry - Cruiser Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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SENIOR FORESTERS For the Class of 1961 the year of graduation has finally arrived. We have reached the goal for which we have worked and hoped-the B.S.F. It has been four years for most of us, give or take a semester. These have been years of hard work and sweat, but the years at West Virginia Uni- versity have also been enjoyable. Thinking about the past at this point in time, it seems only yesterday that we started as a group of bewildered freshmen. We will never forget our first meeting in the Forestry Building with Dr. Percival. Here we learned that a forester must be able to take the wind and rain in his face. Mem- ories of the night at Cooper's Rock, known as the Freshmen Outing, also pop into our heads- get down, low branch .... or step up, up higher . . . . When our first year had ended, we thought that we were seasoned college veterans. We had Physical Education, R.O.T.C., and many other rough courses under our belts. Since our freshman year the ranks of the orig- inal Class of 1961 have been greatly depleted. However, many transfer students from other col- leges have joined our ranks. This category in- cludes the invasion by the Paul Smith's boys' from New York State. The sophomore year started before we knew it. It wasn't long before we were in the middle of tSO2J3 and Mrs. Pettigrew's English class. Der Soil Doktor and his milkshake mixers was also one of our sights. In the spring we were told about standard deviations, amorphosed curves, and the snakes at summer camp. Shortly after the semester ended, the forest,- ers gathered beside the sparkling waters of Anth- ony's Creek. The first day at Camp Wood, Chris Koch told us what to expect during the following ten weeks. He also warned us about the local girls and the night spot known as Maple Grove. The weeks that followed are still remembered vividly by everyone .... the surveying, the log- ging near Lake Sherwood, and the many truck trips. A month after Camp was over a new year be- gan. By this time we had taken almost all of our across-campus courses. There was one across-cam- pus course, however, that few foresters will for- get, namely Physics. In this class the foresters spent their time chasing tops, singing songs, and trying to answer the many questions asked by Stanley Farr. These chores were assigned mainly to those students who had the misfortune to sit in the front row. Finally the big year came. We were seniors. The courses were getting deeper and more in- volved. We became familiar with such terms as cost value, aliquot parts, and Von Mantel's formu- la. The last year passed quickly .... Thanks- giving, Christmas, and Easter vacations came and went. We are now standing at the end of our four years at West Virginia University, and are ready to try some of our knowledge in the field as pro- fessional foresters. As we leave, we wish to thank the faculty for their important role in our educa- tion. We also say goodby to the underclass foresters, and wish them good luck.

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WALLS, DAROLD T.-January l962-FM Beckley, West Virginia Entered 1957g Summer Camp, 1961g summer jobs, .,x. - 1' Baker and Coombs Construction Co., 1958, John Mc- 5,59 A Shain Construction Co., 1959, 1960: served on Social Z Committee, School Development Committee: Cava- A 'Z liersg Society of American Foresters. 4 ... T ZAEBST, ORAN C.-June l96l-WI ' 7 Entered 19583 transferred from the University of the South, University of Georgiag U. S. Marine Corps, 3 yearsg Summer Camp, 19603 summer job, West Virginia Oak Wilt Survey, 1958, 1959, 1960g Chief Forester of Forestry Club, 1960-615 Xi Sigma A esters. '- TRIBUTE TO A TREE Welch, West Virginia lg! ! E 3 , who would pass by and raise your hand against me, harken ere you harm me. I am the heat of your hearth on cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you , 1 'f - 'fee as from the summer ,, sun: and my fruits are re- fi' ei:-ix-:,,23j'l freshing 2- I I ', .. ' aa X Q 'J Q - Evra! T' B- 'IL'-' .4 X I draughts quench- - 'fbi Q 2. ing your thirst ..1' A ,E I X , Lili as you journey ' A-,Zu A H on. I am the f . -..- sv -' '. ' 1 - lux -' .1 : beam that holds - ' ..,... ...I - -'- ' ASS' if ,., your house, the ' gual- ' l 2 ' :,.,- LY-1? ' Qc-1 .-, f '-1, I ,S 1 v W -9-- board of your H' -. , . 'T fy A 5' I table, the bed K ..- ' I 1 1-V - 4 ,: . ' all ' NL Ht ' ' . . on which you - ,..-5: W A . CE. lie, and the timber . 'ai f '14 that builds ' ' f-9 I your boat. I am the handle of your , - hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin. I am the gift of God and a friend of man - from the entrance to a park in Portugal. 22 Pig Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Society of American For- X X S

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The Function of Independent Ubservutions in Forestry The great mass of information and technical knowledge in forestry is a matter of record. This is usually assumed to be accurate and authorita- tive and constitutes the basis of education and forest practice. But there is another factor which cannot be neglected by technical foresters and that is the ability to use the eye to observe actual facts, con- ditions, and happenings in the forest. Such obser- vations may have important and even startling results, leading to the overthrow of accepted be- liefs and a revolution in silvicultural methods. The contrast between slavish dependence on re- corded data and conclusions drawn from direct observations was early emphasized by an experi- ence Ihad in the Waterville Valley in New Hampshire in 1906. The slopes extended almost to timberline, bearing an even-aged stand of spruce. But on ridges running east and west from the summit I noted that the trees on the south slope had reached twice the size of those on the north slope. The reason was obvious. At this alti- tude, the total amount of heat received during the growing season was much greater on this exposed slope than on the shaded north side. When I re- turned to the clubhouse, I imparted this informa- tion to one of the students as an interesting fact. He looked at me disapprovingly and remarked coldly, Professor Graves says that north slopes are the most favorable for tree growth . A second instance of dependence on authority rather than direct observation occurred in Arkan- sas on an area recently thinned by the firm of Pomeroy and McGowin. The latter stated that the small pines in evidence on the ground under the overstory had come in since the cutting four years previously. As the appearance of these small trees threw doubt on this statement, I cut one off at the surface, removed a section and counted the rings which were fifteen in number. That evening I showed this exhibit to a group of the students, whereupon one of them stated em- phatically that Mr. Pomeroy had haid that those trees were only four years old and he believed him. This young man preferred to credit spoken authority rather than believe the evidence of his senses. The universal theory taught in schools of for- estry was that fire was an unmitigated evil which should be totally excluded from all forests, which included the hard pines of the southern coastal regions. But my observations early began to throw doubt on this postulate. This climatic belt was naturally suited to hardwoods rather than pines, where fire was excluded an understory of inferior hardwoods developed under the pines with great- er ability to absorb moisture, with the result that the pines were stunted in growth, killed in periods of drought and prevented from reproducing them- selves. This was especially true of the longleaf pine. When Ponce de Leon passed through these longleaf forests, he found them open and free from hardwood brush. This effect had been pro- duced by periodic ground fires which destroyed the hardwood sprouts but left the pines unscath- ed. In 1908, in southern Alabama there was a heavy crop of longleaf pine seed. I observed that where surface fires had burned, reproduction was abundant, but on a bed of pine needles, or in a grass rough, the seedlings were unable to obtain a foothold. This led me to advocate at that time the burning-over of the ground in the spring pre- vious to the seed fall. The summer's growth of grass would then protect the seed from robins and blackbirds which otherwise would devour most of it. When our forest camp was moved to Urania, Louisiana, on Henry Hardtner's operation, I ob- tained further important information on the de- pendence of this species on recurrent fires. He had fenced in a large area to exclude hogs. These animals had been introduced by white settlers and against them, the longleaf pine seedlings had no defense. The succulent root possessed stored food