8 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



8. Natural Reproduction 



The popular conception of forestry in the United States centers 

 in artificial regeneration through seeding or planting. Some 

 authors erroneously maintain that even in our wooded regions this 

 should be the chief method for establishing new stands. On the 

 contrary, wherever forests now exist they should, as a rule, be so 

 harvested that a new crop arises naturally as a result of the method 

 of cutting. We have over-emphasized the necessity for artificial 

 regeneration and minimized the more urgent need for greater at- 

 tention to the method of cutting our present stands in order that 

 they may be followed by a new crop through natural seeding. 



In general, there are but three situations under which a new 

 crop cannot be attained through natural regeneration. 



a. On sites where seed trees are too remote or too few to pro- 

 duce adequate seed. 



b. On sites where, through soil deterioration due to surface 

 erosion or other causes, the seed brought to the site by natural 

 agencies will not germinate or the young plants become estab- 

 lished. 



c. On sites where for one reason or another a change of species 

 becomes necessary for cultural or economic reasons. 



9. IRREGULARITIES IN NATURAL REPRODUCTION 



In nearly all forests, even where the most acceptable methods 

 for attaining natural regeneration are practiced in making the 

 final cuttings, there is more or less irregularity in the regeneration 

 attained. Thus the new stand will be very dense in some places 

 and too open n others. This irregularity is due to many variable 

 factors. The better and more uniform the site for the particular 

 species, the denser and more uniform the new stand; the more 

 adverse the site, the greater the difficulties experienced in han- 

 dling the cuttings so as to attain a satisfactory new crop through 

 natural seeding. Variations in soil moisture, particularly in the 

 surface layers, variations in light intensity, and unevenness in the 

 distribution of seed are all important factors in causing irregu- 

 larities in the new stand. In every well-managed forest it is 

 necessary to provide for more or less artificial regeneration in order 

 that the new stand may be fully stocked. 



Under the best conditions for natural reproduction, seeding or 



