46 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY. 



Silver Fir . ~) 

 I 



Cembran Pine > . .50 per cent. 



Beech . . j 



Elm . . . . 45 



Common Alder ) O r 



.35 ,, ,, 



Larch . . ) 



Birch 20 



3. Quantity of Seed. 



The density of a forest crop should be sufficient, on 

 the one hand, to give a proper shelter to the soil, and, 

 on the other, to provide for each tree that growing 

 space which is best suited for its proper development. 

 The first object would be obtained by thick sowing, but 

 in that case the development of the trees would be soon 

 interfered with ; hence a mean must be struck ; in other 

 words the density of the young crop should be such that a 

 fair cover overhead will be established within 5 10 years 

 after sowing. This consideration governs the quantity 

 of seed to be sown per unit of area. The actual quantity 

 depends on the quality of the seed, the nature of the 

 soil, the mode of growth of the species, and the dangers 

 to which the seed and the young seedlings are exposed. 

 Of these the quality of the seed has already been dealt 

 with. 



The Soil. Almost any soil can nourish a full crop of 

 seedlings, so that the chemical composition of a soil 

 becomes of importance only after the young crop has 

 closed up and the struggle for existence commenced. 

 Of far greater importance, during germination and the 

 early stage of life, are a proper degree of moisture, heat, 



