44 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



Rodents consume enormous quantities of peed and in 

 parts of the West seed collectors often get a large part 

 of their supply from squirrel hoards. Often seeds may 

 dry out before they germinate or if they do start to 

 put out the little roots they may find that the soil 

 conditions are uncongenial and hence die very quickly. 

 Different species demand different conditions for a 

 proper germination bed. Some trees like poplar and 

 paper birch find congenial surroundings for seed germ- 

 ination in the ashes of a recent forest fire, because their 

 seed germinates most readily upon mineral soil. When 

 large tracts of spruce or pine country have been burned 

 over these species often seed in upon the burn owing 

 to the distance their light seed may be carried by the 

 wind. 



Other trees find moist soil and full sunlight abso- 

 lutely necessary and hence willow seed dislodged by 

 the wind may be carried downstream upon the water 

 and find lodgment upon some warm sandbar, there 

 germinate and grow most luxuriously. Still other trees 

 find conditions favorable to germinate upon rotten logs, 

 and it is no uncommon sight in the North Woods to 

 see a row of yellow birches with an arch eight to ten 

 inches high under the base of the trees, showing that 

 seed had fallen upon a moist rotten log, had germinated, 

 sent roots down to the ground and now that the old 

 log has rotted away, the row of trees appears to be 

 growing with part of their roots out of the ground. 

 Whatever soil the seed falls upon the location must be 

 the kind needed by the species or else the young seed- 

 ling will last but a short time. 



In addition to perpetuating their kind by means of 

 seed certain trees have the faculty of sending up 



