130 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



forests and felt the evil effects of the devastation, hut come to the help of 

 the forests and commence in earnest with great energy to replant them 

 for the benefit of ourselves and our descendants. 



Our greatly devastated forests may be improved and their former thick- 

 ness replaced. 1. By natural propagation. 2. By the artificial cultivation 

 from seed and planting. 



The replanting lies largely in the hands of the nurserymen. The natural 

 propagation by self-seeding and suckering stands opposed to the artificial 

 propagation by hand seeding and cuttings. It depends upon certain con- 

 ditions, as for instance; the trees must be old enough and in condition to 

 bear seed, furthermore the suckers or shoots must not be over a certain 

 age; if these conditions are not fulfilled natural propagation will not be 

 successful. 



In raising new varieties, where the soil is not fitted for these Wees, nat- 

 ural propagation will be unprofitable; on the other hand it is necessary 

 or to be recommended with varieties that cannot be grown without the 

 protection of the parent trees, as the beech and white pine; also when 

 they are to be grown on elevated spots, on steep hill sides with rocky soil, 

 or other places where cultivation is made difficult by ravines, gullies, or 

 rockiness of the soil and where the results are endangered by insects, or 

 the soil is in such condition that the seeds germinate freely. 



On the other hand, artificial cultivation is necessary when large, bare 

 places are to be planted, new varieties are to be grown, or where trees are 

 to be grown, which do not as yet or will not bear seed enough, or where 

 trees have lost the power to sucker, or where natural propagation from 

 other causes is not certain. 



'' Propagation can take place by surrounding with timber protection , 

 seeding on such places where no natural seed can be expected, or where 

 a certain species under, timber protection is not in sufficient number or 

 not at the right age. As, for instance, seeding large clearings and bare 

 places with species that in their youth have little to suffer from frost and 

 weeds, and which are not easily and cheaply transplanted, as beech, oak, 

 alder, etc. 



The seed is adapted to soils that are not wet or swampy but also not too 

 dry, poor or stony; good results cannot be expected on raw highlands, on 

 sunny sides, or too loose, swampy, or soil highly impregnated with lime; 

 on the last two because frost on leaving heaves the plants and therefore 

 growth from seed is very uncertain. 



The want of sufficient seed or its high prise are often drawbacks for 

 propagating from seed. Planting is the next resort when the requirements 

 for seeding are not favorable, or where the seeds in germinating are en- 

 dangered by birds, mice, etc., as in replanting in the underbrush or other- 

 wise when the surrounding plants have the start. Planting is also 

 resorted to in restoring certaici peculiar varieties or in raising tender 

 varieties. 



Natural propagation is generally preferred by owners of small pieces of 

 timber land because it is easier and costs less. This is done as follows: 



If the prospects for a seed crop are good a part of the trees are felled 

 and those with good crowns are selected, those that are not easily blown 

 down by the storms. All branches, moss and leaves must be removed, as 

 otherwise the seed could not germinate, because the seed would lodge in 

 the moss, germinate and then die during the dry weather. 



