THE ARTIFICIAL FORMATION 

 OF WOODS 



CHAPTER VI 

 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



THE previous chapters of this book deal chiefly with the silvical 

 principles which govern field operations in seeding and planting. 

 Part II is descriptive of the operations themselves and the results 

 that may be expected from the best practice. These operations 

 relate to: 



a. Forest tree seed and seed collecting. 



6. The protection of seeding and planting sites. 



c. Preliminary treatment of seeding and planting sites. 



d. Direct seeding. 



e. Nursery practice. 

 /. Planting. 



No single form of reproduction is adapted to all conditions. 

 This is emphasized by Reuss : in his recent work on the methods 

 of regenerating stands. Experience has already shown that the 

 regeneration of western yellow pine by direct seeding is prefer- 

 able to planting in portions of the Black Hills and the northern 

 Rocky Mountain region, while regeneration by planting is more 

 advantageous in the more western and southern portions of 

 its range. The choice in the method of regeneration is very 

 largely an economic one. The sole criterion that should determine 

 between natural and artificial regeneration and between seeding and 

 planting is economy and simplicity in the reproduction of the crop 

 without deterioration of the soil. In one locality, a species can be 

 regenerated most advantageously by direct seeding: in another, 

 by planting. In some localities, a species can be regenerated in 

 a simpler manner and at less cost by natural means than by either 

 seeding or planting. 



The factors which determine economy and simplicity in the re- 



1 Reuss, Hermann: Die forstliche Bestandesgriindung. Berlin, 1907. 



75 



