REGENERATION ON GUT-OVER HARDWOOD LANDS 875 



SEEDLING REPRODUCTION 



A Study of seedling reproduction is complicated by fhe fact that 

 it consists of at least three classes of growth : (1 ) Seedlings upwards 

 of two or three feet tall when the area was cut over which became 

 broken or partly broken in logging and have sent up two or more 

 sprouts from the roots. These seedling sprouts average some three feet 

 high and intergrade with the sapling sprouts. (2) The second class 

 of seedlings are those derived from exceedingly small seedlings which 

 have continued their growth under the new condition. They vary 

 from a few inches in height to a couple of feet. (3) The third class 

 of seedlings are those which have come in since the area was cut 

 over. They are derived from seed produced at a distance and brought 

 in by the winds. They consist largely of aspens, and are confined to 

 areas where the mineral soil was exposed by acts of logging, as 

 skid roads, yarding sites, etc. 



An attempt was made to secure seedling counts on the plots but the 

 results were unsatisfactory. The students were unable to distinguish 

 with sufficient accuracy the various classes of seedlings or to make 

 reliable counts of such large plots. To secure trustworthy data re- 

 garding seedlings smaller plots will have to be chosen and then gone 

 over very carefully. 



Some conclusions from observation of the whole tract are worth 

 recording however : (1 ) No conifers are present in the second growth. 

 Seedlings of hemlock or pine where present in the original forest 

 had failed to survive the radical change in conditions. Although 

 the surviving hemlocks were all producing seed, no seedlings resulted 

 from it. (2) The seedling elms seem better to be able to adjust 

 themselves to the changed conditions induced by cutting than the 

 maple. In the surrounding uncut forest, maple seedlings outnum- 

 ber elm at least five to one. On the cut area there are approximately 

 three times as many elm seedlings as maple. This last is something of 

 a supposition of course since we are unaware of the exact com- 

 position of the seedling growth when the forest was removed. (3) 

 The proportion of weed trees, such as aspen, will not be very high 

 in the new crop since they seem unable to establish themselves among 

 the thick brush of the sprouts, and even in the open spaces they have, 

 to complete with grass and briers. Such areas will in many places 

 probably remain o^oen till the new growth surrounding them has re- 



