CaliforniaBuilding Permits for December

I:'illmorc l.'resno iluller,ton

(iardena

Glendale

Glendora tl anlor(l

Hawthorne

Flaywarcl

Hemet

Flermosa Beach

Huntington Ileach

Huntington Park

Inglewood

I-aguna Beach

L,a Verne

Lindsay

Lodi

Long Beach

Sacramento Countv

S;rlinas

San Bernardino

San Bernardino County

San Bruno

San Carlos

San Diego

Si,' Dieio Cou't1'

San Fernando

San Francisco

San Gabriel

San J osc

San Leandro

San Luis Obispo

San tr[arino

Sarr I{atecr

San \{ateo Countv

San Rafael Santa Ana Santa Barbara

Santa Clara

More Aid Needed :n Flght on Oak tVilt 1952 Housing Starts Total 1,1311300

At the annttal ;ueeting of the National Oak Floorirlg Manuia-ctrtrers' Association held Deceml>er 4-5 in trIem1rhis, the board of tlirectors appropriated tlie sunr of $15.0()0 from the gloup's it'eirsury to provide funcls for reseitrch cn the cerlses and elimination of the Oak \\-ilt diseasc. The fight cn this deadly disease has been spearheaded throuqh th: National Oak \\/ilt Research Committee. Sterick Building, \Iemphis, and the need for concerted action bv lumbermen is vital. Much has lteen learned about the disease but a great deal remains to be discovered if ihe onslarrght is lr, be stemmed.

The areas over u'hich Oak \\Iilt has spread have been nrore clear'l rj clefine,l lrv aerial stlrveys. timl>er cruises. frotn rel)orts of occuricnces recognized as the result of the Committee's distribution of descriptive literature on tl.re clisease, ancl by other means. Among other things. it rva; forrnd that the fu;rsus appeared in mat-lil<e grou'ths unrie: the bark of the lilected trees. cracking 1nd loosening the bark to prc,r.ide :iccess for birds, insects rrr other possibie carriers to take i: to unaffected trees. It has been riiscovered that the lungus causes t1'loses to forrn in the tree's vessels, sh:rtting off circulation n'ith fatal effects. Further informatior.r on tl-re u'ay the disease moves to immediatelv adjacei.t trees of the same or related specics through rooi, gra[ts has been cleveloped.

NIore effecti'r.e neans of isolating occurrences through the use of poisons and mechanical means are no\\' knorvn as a result of the studies. The u'ay that the disease is spread ovel distr.nces is not vet known. but studies involving hundreds of specimens of suspected carriers are underrvav. One ilrstitution is studying the longevity of the Oak \\rilt fungus in material cut from infected trees. Thus far the evirlence indicates that the fungus does not destroy the u'ood or affect its strength rrrd also indicates that the fungus is short lived in such material and thet there is little likciihood of the spread of the Oak \\:ilt fungus by the lumber industry.

The situation is by no means hopeless. The research program has alrea.dy produced much valuable information ancl there is reason to hope that satisfactorv ansrvers tc) the problern t,ill be developed. The program n'as originally designed to co\/er a minimum periotl of 3 vears u'ith a possible extensicn. In l95l the Committee made grants totaling $37,000 and the 1952 expendituies u'ill be over $54,000. \\'hile nruch has been accomplished through the research program, u'e have a difficult oroblem and mucir remains to be done trefore it can be solved. \\/holehearted cooperation on the part of all concerned is essential.

-National H:Lrds'ood Nervs..

The largest pest control program the rvorld has ever knot'n is the spraying of 670,000 acres of I)ouglas fir forests irr Oregon and Washington to l:ill spruce budu'orm.

Construction of nerv farm buildings and maintenance and repair of old ones consumes o\-er four million board feet of lumber per year.

A total of I.131,300 ne\\' permanent nonfarm drrelling units rvere started during 1952, of rvhich l'074,300 rvere privatelv os'ned. according to preliminar)- estimates of the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau oi Labor Statistics. This marks the fourth consecutive vear that housing starts nationallv have exceeded the million mark. The 1952 estimate represents an increase of 40,000 ttnits. or 4 per cent. above the l95l total, and rvas exceeded onll- b1- the 1.396.000-unit starts record establishc'd in 1950.

Housing starts declined less than seasonall;- from ifovember to December.195?, b1' ll per cent to 76'0ff units25 per cent more than the December l95l figure. Earll- reports to the Bureau indicate that December housebuilding activitr- declined in varving degrees in all sections of the countrv except the \\'est South Central region rvhere a rnoderate increase occurred.

The 1952 housing volume rvas influenced partll' bv a gradual easing of restrictions on the use of building materials and the relaxation of mortgage-credit controls. Private housing alone accounted for the higher level of housebuilding in l952-increasing b-"* 54,200 units. or 5 per cent. over 1951. The volume of public housing rvas lorver in 1952 bv 14.200 units. Final estimates available for the first 9 months of 1952 indicate gains over 1951 in the rolume of l- and Z-Iamil.v units. l)ut neN apartment construction continued the decline that began in 1951.

I\fost of the l95l-52 increase in total volume occurred in the latter hali of the year. For the first and second quarter, 1952 volume u'as under that for l95l; but in the third quarter it x'as greater b1' l0 per cent and in the fourth quarter by 17 per cent.

Building q Ccreer

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Tvree has been an effective spokesman for good forestland management He has been as'arded ts'o prizes fcr his talks anci demonstrations on "Hotr Trees Grorv." antl "Ho$' to Increase Farm Income bv Improved Forestry Practices." -A,s a school fire ranger the Arkansas high school junior has supervised fire protection measures around his school {orests and home rvood lots.

In fact, )'oung Tyree says it rvas the influence oi the industrv-sponsored Nevada countv school forest progratrr that reallv got him started in forest management rrork. Norr the Akansas vouth plans to enroll in a forestri' college u'hen he graduates from high school.

Grorving trees as a crop isn't Tvree's onl-r agriculturir! interest. He has \ron numerous 4-H honors for his tvork rvith cattle. Trees and cattle, in fact. ar: profitable companion crops on the Tyree farm.

Of the trventv-five million familr'-orvned and occupied homes in the United States, eleven million are more than 33 years old, sixteen million are more than 23 ;-ears old, and nineteen million are at least l3 years old.