PREFACE 



THE need of a handbook on seeding and planting in forest 

 practice applicable to conditions in the United States is appar- 

 ent. With the exception of a few pamphlets widely scat- 

 tered through the publications of the National Forest Service 

 and the forestry departments of several states and recent articles 

 in the Forestry Quarterly and in the Proceedings of the Society of 

 American Foresters, but little of trustworthy character dealing 

 with this important subject has yet appeared in this country. 

 The forestry literature of Europe, however, is particularly rich 

 in this field. Although European methods cannot be blindly fol- 

 lowed in forestry practice in the United States, cultural principles 

 apply alike in this country and Europe. For this reason foreign 

 literature, particularly that of Germany and France, has been 

 freely drawn upon for the principles underlying the practice. 



An effort has been made to explain the why as well as the how. 

 For this reason the fundamental principles that control success 

 and failure in the economic production of nursery stock and the 

 artificial regeneration of forests are emphasized as well as the 

 details of practice. The practitioner must have a clear apprecia- 

 tion of underlying principles or he cannot safely be trusted to 

 direct the details of nursery practice, seeding and planting. He 

 must have a broad knowledge of methods and tools in order that he 

 may attain successful regeneration at the least cost. 



The manual is necessarily incomplete because the experience in 

 the United States in this field is very limited; furthermore, the 

 country presents such varied conditions of climate and soil that 

 the details of nursery practice, seeding and planting, must neces- 

 sarily differ in one locality as compared with another. Although 

 the author appreciates that criticism is invited by the description 

 of many methods and tools not used in the United States, he be- 

 lieves that they should be known where experience has fully 

 demonstrated their usefulness elsewhere and there is a possibility 

 that they may be used advantageously under special conditions 

 in this country. No method should be blindly followed. The prac- 

 titioner should have a broad knowledge of many methods. He should 



