Kraebel: Choosing the Best Tree Seeds 



487 



original lots. Uniform storage condi- 

 tions have been maintained from the 

 beginning. 



THE SEEDLING 



For the purposes of this study it is the 

 behavior of the seedling in the nursery, 

 and more especially its behavior a.s a 

 growing tree in its ultimate place in the 

 planting site, which forms the basis of 

 final judgment upon the desirability of 

 that seedling. In order to secure mate- 

 rial for the study of this behavior, the 

 seedlings of 1913 and 1914 were observed 

 for two years in the nursery and then 

 out-planted on various sites to form per- 

 manent forest stands. 



Series of 1913. — The seedlings result- 

 ing from the germination tests of 1913 

 were closely watched in the fall of that 

 year to determine the time of winter bud 

 formation or ' ' hardening. ' ' In the spring 

 of 1914 they were transplanted in the 

 nursery and at that time a number of 

 seedlings was taken at random from 

 each lot for minute study and compari- 

 son. In the fall of 1914 the height 

 growth was recorded by measuring every 

 tenth plant in the beds, and the process 

 of "hardening" was again observed. 



In the spring of 1915 the plants, then 

 two years old, were lifted for final plant- 

 ing in six different sites in four different 

 geographical regions. Ten representa- 

 tive plants of each lot were again taken 

 for intensive laboratory study. Twenty 

 plants of each lot were sent to each of 

 these sites, making a total final planting 

 of 120 trees for each original seed tree 

 from which cones were gathered. For 

 twelve of the original trees, possessing 

 features for which broader averages 

 were desired, from 50 to 100 transplants 

 were set out in each site. The plants 

 were spaced 7 feet apart each way. 

 Each plantation covers an area of nearly 

 four acres and contains approximately 

 3,400 pedigreed plants, each of which is 

 marked with an aluminum tag bearing 

 the original parent tree number and the 

 individual number of the seedling in its 

 row. The total niimber of plants of the 



1913 series, outplanted in 1915, is thus 

 20,400. 



Series of 1914. — In order to strengthen 

 the whole study, the entire procedure 

 outlined above was repeated with the 

 seedlings of the 1914 germination series, 

 each operation following the similar 

 operation in the 1913 series by just one 

 year. In the final outplanting to the 

 same sites in 1916, however, only ten 

 plants for each parent tree were set out 

 in each site, since it was believed that 

 this number was sufficient to serve as a 

 check upon the 1915 plants. 



PLANTING SITES 



The permanent planting areas, and 

 the features for which they w^ere selected 

 are as follows: 



1. Northern Cascades: On the Sno- 

 qualmie National Forest; 40 miles east 

 of Everett, Washington, on the South 

 Fork of the Stillaguamish River ; altitude. 

 1,900 feet. 



2. Middle Cascades: On the Colum- 

 bia Forest ; 7 miles north of the Columbia 

 River; altitude, 1,200 feet. 



3. Middle Cascades for altitudinal 

 range: Three areas on the Oregon 

 Forest; 5 miles southwest of Mt. Hood, 

 on the headwaters of the Sandy River : 



I. 2,800 feet elevation, north slope. 



II. 3,700 feet elevation, north slope. 



III. 4,600 feet elevation, north slope. 



4. Coast Region: On the Siuslaw 

 Forest, in the coast range (Mt. Hebo); 

 20 miles south of Tillamook; altitude, 

 2,000 feet. 



RESULTS 



The results of the study fall naturalh- 

 into two divisions, the first including the 

 statistical data concerning the cones, the 

 seed, and the germination and behavior 

 of seedlings in the nursery; the second 

 embracing the development of the seed- 

 lings in the final field plantations. 



The results of that portion of the 

 study dealing with the cones, the seed, 

 and the seedling in the nursery have 

 been exhaustively presented in a prog- 

 ress report written in 1914 by C. P. 

 Willis. 2 The great range of conditions 



2 For the substance of this official report the reader is referred to the article, "A Study of 

 Douglas Fir Seed, " by C. P. Willis and T- V. Hofmann, in the Proceedings of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Foresters, Vol. x (1915), pp. 141-164. 



