The main objective of the book is to provide an up-to-date examination of the possible roles of plant hormones during the cytodifferentiation of xylem and phloem elements in higher plants. Various facets of vascular differentiation, as cell determination, cell cycle activity, and the biochemical events in xylogenesis, are analyzed. Furthermore, the latest information on the roles of auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene, and abscisic acid during vascular cell formation are summarized. A theoretical discussion of the six-point hypothesis and the vascular adaptation hypothesis is included....

Wood is formed in an essentially water-saturated environment in the living tree, and the cell wall remains in this state until the water flow from the roots is interrupted, such as by felling the tree. The wood then begins to lose most of its moisture by drying, resulting in changes in most of its physical properties. These changes, and their relationship to the environment to which the wood is subsequently ex posed, are the subject of this book. The text consists of six chapters. The first chapter discusses cer tain empirical relationships between wood and water, methods of measuring wood...

Wood is the usual end product of a forestry operation. Because of its importance, numerous studies have been made relative to wood prop erties, the causes of wood variation, and how best to develop wood for desired products. There is voluminous literature related to these subjects, but it is neither well known nor appreciated by foresters because the publications are often not available or are not well understood by the forester or by those who use the wood. Frequently, the literature is confusing and contradictory, making it difficult for the nonspecialist to use what information is...

An increase in the demand for wood results in improved recovery and less residual biomass in the forests. Paradoxically, interest in forest residue as a renewable source of raw material seems to be in a reverse ratio to its availability in a certain area. Finland and Sweden are probably more dependent on forestry and forest in dustries than any other developed countries in the world. A sufficiency of raw ma terial for integrated forest industries is vital for the national economy of both countries, and a great deal of attention is being paid to the long-term potential of unutilized biomass...

The science of dendrochronology has grown significantly in the past 20 years. In the 1950s and 1960s, interest in the subject was limited to only a handful of scientists who perceived in dendrochronology a "l'art pour l'art." Today, however, specialists from many different fields recognize and are pursuing the problems of dendrochronology. Tree-ring research has acquired a permanent role in the various sciences of archeology, history, geology, ecology, and climatology. The founders of dendrochronology themselves were of varied scientific backgrounds and interests. For example, A. E. Douglass...

Provided here is a comprehensive treatise on all aspects of dielectric properties of wood and wood products. The topics covered include: Interaction between electromagnetic field and wood. - Wood composition and dielectric properties of its components. - Measurement of dielectric parameters of wood.- Dielectric properties of oven-dry wood. - Dielectric properties of moist wood. - Effect of different kinds of treatment on dielectric properties of wood. - Dielectric properties of bark. - Dielectric properties of wood-based materials. - Recommendations for determination of dielectric parameters...

The cambium has been variously defined as follows: "The actively dividing layer of cells that lies between, and gives rise to, secondary xylem and phloem (vascular cambium)" (IAWA 1964); "A meristem with products of periclinal divisions commonly contributed in two directions and arranged in radial files. Term pre ferably applied only to the two lateral meristems, the vascular cambium and cork cambium, or phellogen" (Esau 1977); and, "Lateral meristem in vascular plants which produces secondary xylem, secondary phloem, and parenchyma, usually in radial rows; it consists of one layer of...

Over the past years, a great deal has been learned about variation in wood prop erties. Genetic control is a major source of variation in most wood properties. Wood is controlled genetically both directly in the developmental or internal pro cesses of wood formation and indirectly by the control of tree form and growth patterns. Emphasis in this book will be on the internal control of wood production by genetics although there will be two chapters dealing with the indirect genetic control of wood, which was covered in detail in the previous book by Zobel and van Buijtenen (1989). The...

Progress in wood chemistry has been related mainly to chemical wood pulping and bleaching and chemical utilization of wood and wood extractives. Meth ods of wood analysis were developed by Schorger (proximate analysis in 1917) and Dore (summative analysis in 1919), and standard methods based on Schorger's method, e.g., TAPPI standards (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry), have been widely used for chemical analysis of woods in many countries. Thus it is generally known that wood is composed of about 50% cellulose, 20-35% of lignin, 15-25% of hemicelluloses, and variable...

At present, no single book adequately covers a basic understanding of wood book satisfies the need for such a work. It describes drying in practice. This the fundamental basis of kiln-drying technology, to enable forest companies to imFrove their drying operations as high-quality timbers become scarcer and of yesteryear can no longer be tolerated. Adaptive the wasteful practices is no longer good enough. Innovations change based on past experience of the material being dried and the processes require a sound understanding of drying. Newer techniques, such as the use of ultrahigh temperature...