1494 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The reforestation of sites that have been cut over, burned, and 

 eroded will demand study. Many northern white pine sites in the 

 Lake States, Engelmann spruce sites in the Rock} 7 " Mountain region, 

 and others have been so changed that there is little hope of artificially 

 restocking them at once with the original species. It may be neces- 

 sary to restock the sites with less desirable but hardier species to 

 produce forest-like conditions that will permit the reintroduction of 

 the original species as a secondary step. For example, jack pine will 

 grow on deteriorated northern white pine lands too poor to support 

 white pine at present and can be planted to pave the way for a success- 

 ful plantation of white pine in the future. It is of course obvious 

 that what has been said applies also to the selection of species to be 

 planted on cultivated or abandoned agricultural land. This land, 

 however, usually has more favorable soil moisture and fertility than 

 devastated forest land. Methods of analyzing sites to determine 

 when the more desirable species can be successfully planted and when 

 the use of the less desirable is a necessity, are needed for maximum 

 success in any large reforestation program. 



Heredity in trees has been largely ignored in this country. Tree 

 seed has been accepted as satisfactory so long as it was of the desired 

 species, fairly clean, and had good germinative capacity. No atten- 

 tion, generally, has been paid to the quality of the parent tree or to 

 the climatic conditions where it was grown. In Europe "certified 

 seed" certified as to species, quality of parent 'tree, geographical 

 and climatic source is common. In this country two companies are 

 known to have offered certified tree seed. The importance of seed 

 source is recognized and amply justified when applied to other crop 

 plants. According to records of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture recognized agencies in 43 States reported, for 1931, 

 11,554,508 bushels, 8,851,723 pounds and 3,300 tons of seed of known 

 ancestry and inherent characteristics. The amounts stated include 

 the so-called improved, registered, and certified seed of the more 

 common farm crops and are reported according to the established unit 

 of measure for the crop in question. 



Responsibility for agricultural seed-improvement work either rests 

 with organizations variously called seed growers, or crop improvement 

 associations, or with State experiment stations or State departments 

 of agriculture. Funds for the work are raised by dues, inspection 

 fees, sales taxes, appropriations where States take a hand, or a combi- 

 nation of these. The handling of certified tree seed might well be 

 patterned along the same lines except that, due to the interstate 

 character of the tree seed business, it would be necessary that registra- 

 tion of tree seed houses and inspection be^centralized in the Federal 

 Government, preferably in the Forest Service. The expense incident 

 to such a service would be insignificant in comparison to the resultant 

 values. A forest crop is long deferred and mistakes in source of seed, 

 which can be avoided by proper certification and utilization of seed, 

 may not be realized for many years after planting at which time 

 corrective measures other than replanting are practically impossible. 



The cost of this seed would be somewhat higher than the normal, but 

 the extra cost is thoroughly justified and the practice of certification 

 should not only be encouraged, but possibly be made obligatory, as in 

 some European states, before intensive, widespread planting is under- 

 taken. Experiments by the Lake States Forest Experiment Station 



