Microscopical Rating of Decay in Sitka Spruce and Its Relation to Toughness

The study was made to determine whether reduction in toughness caused by wood-rotting fungi might be estimated in relationship to microscopical changes in the wood. Microscopical features were observed in microtome sections from Sitka spruce blocks subject to decay, in pure cultures, by five brown-rot fungi. The presence of hyphae, bore holes, and decomposition of cell walls in the individual tracheids of a microscopical field was used as a basis for establishing a numerical rating of decay. The relation between decay ratings and toughness and decay of test strips from two Sitka spruce flitches that were naturally infected with Poria monticola. This relationship proved to be highly variable. Nevertheless there was a clearly defined association of average values for both factors.

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