172 A MANUAL OF FORESTRY. 



in Sylviculture. In this respect either sowing or 

 planting may be preferable, according to circum- 

 stances ; experience, however, shows that where 

 plants of good quality can be raised at a reasonable 

 outlay, planting yields higher and more valuable returns 

 than direct sowing, if time be considered. 



Where the land is required for pasture or grass- 

 cutting, planting is decidedly preferable, as cattle can 

 be admitted at an earlier age, while grass-cutting can be 

 commenced at once. 



2. Sylvicultural System. 



The formation of woods to be treated under the pol- 

 larding system, and of osier beds, is best effected by plant- 

 ing. The same may be said of ordinary coppice woods 

 and the production of standards in coppice. In ordi- 

 nary seedling forests, either method may be adopted. 



3. Species. 



The species affects the choice of method in various 

 ways. In the first place many species produce seed 

 abundantly only at irregular and often long intervals ; 

 hence continuous operations can be carried on only by 

 planting, as the production of nursery plants requires 

 comparatively small quantities of seed, and this, if 

 necessary, can be obtained from a distance. By keeping 

 a quantity of reserve plants in the nursery, seedless years 

 may be tided over without interrupting the work. 



Species, the seed of which germinates with difficulty 

 or slowly, or the seedlings of which are tender in early 

 youth, should be propagated by planting and not by 



