The international hardwood field experiment was planned in 1976 and set up in some 34 different sites around the world. The test stakes include 4 reference species common to each site and in most cases at least 2 species of local importance (supplementary species). It was hoped that a picture of performance of a range of economically important timber species would be built up and at the same time provide vital background information for people currently engaged in hardwood and soft-rot research. Obviously it proved impossible to set up such a large trial simultaneously and since the various sites are inspected at different times the data presented are for different time periods dependent on the site. The original intention was to present fully the data at year 10 when it was considered the test should be terminated. Three progress reports have been prepared giving details of the reference species (IRG/WP/3164), the supplementary species at the master site (IRG/WP/3200) and the data available in 1986 (IRG/WP/3391). The sending of results from the various sites has been rather erratic and despite precise instructions, sometimes results have been provided in a form difficult to interpret. Only sites submitting data for a minimum of 5 years are included in this report that is, 16 of the original 34 sites.

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