304 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



Usually it is not necessary or desirable to mulch or otherwise 

 cover the seedbeds during the winter except the first year. 



Dense seeding of conifers is practiced in many nurseries, and a 

 portion of the plants removed at the end of the first year, leaving, 

 however, sufficient stock to form a full stand the second year. At 

 the end of the second year all the plants are removed or else the 

 surplus stock is again removed, leaving enough to form a full stand 

 for the third year. // the beds are thoroughly saturated with water 

 before the 1-year stock is removed, it can usually be pulled without 

 injury, particularly if several plants are removed together. When 

 2-year beds are thinned, pulling the seedlings causes more damage 

 and it is safer to lift the stock with a spade or trowel (Fig. 77). 

 When the excess stock is not required for transplanting, overdense 

 stands of 1- and 2-year seedlings are often thinned by clipping 

 out the excess plants with a pair of shears. This is preferable 

 to pulling or lifting the excess stock as it does not disturb the 

 roots of the plants that remain. 



38. WRENCHING OR ROOT PRUNING THE STOCK IN THE SEED- 

 BEDS. Seedlings that remain in the seedbed through but 

 one growing season are never root pruned prior to lifting. It is 

 sometimes advantageous to root prune older stock while still in 

 the seedbed. This is usually done in the autumn after the sea- 

 son's growth is complete. Its purpose is to check growth and 

 induce those species which produce a deep tap root with few 

 lateral roots to develop a more diversified root system. Broad- 

 leaved species that remain in the seedbed longer than the first 

 year, if likely to become too large by the end of the second year, 

 may be held in check by root pruning in the early autumn follow- 

 ing the first summer's growth. Conifers are not root pruned in 

 the seedbed at the end of the first season's growth except the 

 more rapidly-growing species grown under the most favorable con- 

 ditions. When conifers are retained in the seedbed longer than 

 the second year, it is almost always advisable to check their 

 growth and improve the root system by severe root pruning at 

 the termination of the second season's growth. 



Root pruning in the seedbed can be practiced only when the 

 seedlings are grown in bands or lines. Goudie l advocates the root 

 pruning of Douglas fir, Monterey pine, and some other American 



1 Goudie, H. A.: State afforestation in New Zealand. (Report, Dept. of 

 Lands. Wellington, 1911.) 



