STARTING AND REPRODUCING A WOODLOT 101 



woodlot away from these winds, so that the seed from the 

 trees left standing will be scattered over the cut-over strip. 

 This is known as the strip method of reproducing a woodlot. 

 Where single trees or groups of trees are cut from the wood- 

 lot, the area cut is soon seeded from the surrounding trees, 

 provided the soil conditions are favorable. 



STARTING A WOODLOT BY LEAVING TREES IN THE CUTTING TO 

 SEED UP THE AREA, THE SEED-TREE METHOD 



Often when a woodlot containing trees having light seeds 

 is cut clean, several large seed trees per acre are left to seed 

 up the area naturally to new trees. The number left will de- 

 pend on the kind of trees and on the distance to which the 

 seed is scattered. Usually two or three vigorous and wind-firm 

 trees are sufficient if left well scattered over the area. When 

 the trees are not naturally wind-firm, groups of trees are often 

 left so that the trees will protect each other from the wind. 

 This is known as the group seed-tree method. The seed-tree 

 method is applicable to trees that are wind-firm and that have 

 light, easily blown seeds that will germinate on clearings, like 

 pines, spruces, ash, tulip, poplar and maple. Heavy seeds like 

 walnut, oak, beech and chestnut do not scatter far, and this 

 method cannot be used satisfactorily with such trees. 



The success of this as well as of other methods of natural 

 seeding will depend in large measure on the condition of the 

 seed bed. If the seed is sown from the trees soon after log- 

 ging and when the ground is torn up and exposed, natural re- 

 production will usually be successful. If grass and tall weeds 

 take possession of the area, reproduction will be hard to estab- 

 lish. Hogs are sometimes driven into a woodlot that is to be 

 reproduced naturally by seed to root up the ground and expose 

 the mineral soil. 



