THE FORMATION OF FORESTS 107 
ing in the Eastern United States are collected in Colo- 
rado and not on the moist Pacific coast. If, however, 
the climate in which one desires to plant this tree 
equals in wetness the Pacific coast, it would be better 
to secure seeds from that district. 
One often hears the argument that trees or any 
other living thing which have survived adverse con- 
ditions are stronger and hardier than they would have 
been without this struggle. An animal or plant which 
has been deprived of everything except the minimum 
requirements for existence, can never compete with 
the well-fed organism. <A tree can never completely 
recover from the effects of suppression and adversity. 
The common practise of hardening plants by grow- 
ing them in poor soil is a mistake. Grow them from 
good rich seed in good soil, and then if they are 
planted in bad soil they will grow all the better from 
their good start in early youth. One might, without 
doubt, produce hardiness by a long process of selec- 
tion, extending in the case of trees over a period of 
hundreds of centuries, but the hardening effect on the 
individual for a couple of years in the nursery is prob- 
ably very slight. 
It is best, then, to collect your own seed in 
your own district, from the best trees you can find. 
In that way, and in that way only, can one be 
absolutely sure that what he gets is what he wants. 
