DEFINITIONS AND GENERALITIES 



5 



tained. The small openings that result from the death of the 

 trees are surrounded by many seed trees, and the soil, without 

 grass or other herbage, is in the best possible condition for the 

 germination of seed. 

 Consequently, thousands 

 of seedlings fill every 

 opening and early begin 

 an adjustment for space, 

 light and moisture. 



6. NATURAL REPRO- 

 DUCTION AFTER LUM- 

 BERING, FIRE AND, 

 WINDFALL 



When the forest is dis- 

 turbed by man or by 

 some other agent which 

 causes the destruction 

 at one time of a large 

 number of trees, condi- 

 tions often arise which 

 make natural restocking 

 very slow and difficult. 

 In some cases the open- 

 ings are so large that in- 

 adequate seed is brought 

 to the open spaces from 

 the surrounding trees. 

 The resulting reproduc- 

 tion is incomplete (Fig. 

 4). More and more seed 

 is brought in with succeeding years, but inadequate seed and long 

 exposure of the soil to sun and wind cause the natural reproduction 

 to be so slow that fifty or even one hundred years are often 

 necessary for the forest to return to a fully stocked condition. 

 Under such circumstances the succeeding stand is inferior to the 

 original in composition and density. Large openings are seeded 

 chiefly by species best adapted for the dissemination of their 

 seed by the wind. It is for this reason that large cut-over areas 

 and burns in the spruce and pine regions of New England are 



FIG. 3. Natural reproduction in an open 

 space in a virgin forest near Fish Camp, 

 California. 



