Trees in Tubes. Since 1957 the Research Branch has been attempting to 

 develop a fast, inexpensive method of reforestation which could be useful in 

 extending the planting season (in summer, as well as spring and fall) and to 

 provide stock on a few weeks notice for planting after wildfires. 



After many small-scale trials and much mechanical innovation, by 1963 there 

 was sufficient assurance of success to proceed with a development program for the 

 quick production of large numbers of tree seedlings in small tubes, and planting 

 techniques suitable for a large-scale experiment. The equipment was designed 

 for field use in the immediate proximity of planting sites; a "self-contained" 

 operation. 



By the end of 1964 suitable prototypes of tools and equipment had been 

 made to meet the requirements for the experimental planting in 1965 of about 

 120,000 tubed seedlings in the Chapleau District. Checks will be made on 

 survival and growth in the fall of 1965 and the spring of 1966. Further expansion 

 of this work is planned over the next five years. 



SOUTH WESTERN FOREST RESEARCH UNIT 



The programme in 1964 of the South Western Regional forest research unit 

 consisted of the following: 



Maple sap and syrup studies. 



Chemical control of the Dutch Elm disease. 



Chemical site preparation for hardwood planting. 



Chemical thinning. 



Chemical effect valuation on shrub control in fire guards. 



Asexual reproduction of high-quality silver maple phenotypes. 



Seasonal and periodic growth studies in hardwood and conifer stands. 

 Maple Syrup. About 600 sap samples, collected from silver maple, hard 

 maple and red maple stands and from street plantings of Norway and Manitoba 

 maple, were tested for their sugar content. This project is designed to determine 

 the potentialities of five species and to explore the principal factors in maple syrup 

 production. The study was carried out in co-operation with the Department of 

 Agriculture of the Ontario Agricultural College and with the Vineland Experimental 

 Station. Statistical correlation of sugar content of sap was made for hard and silver 

 maple in relation to stand density, dominance and site conditions. The results are 

 being prepared for publication. 



Chemical Control of Dutch Elm Disease. A co-operative project with the 

 Forest Pathology Laboratory and the Lake Huron District on the chemical control 

 of Dutch Elm disease was initiated in the spring of 1964. The chemical 2, 3, 6- 

 trichlorphenoxyacetic acid in water was applied as a basal bark spray to 500 

 American elms near Walkerton. 



Chemical Site Preparations. Chemical site preparations for hardwood planting 

 studies using Dybar to eradicate competitive vegetation were continued by testing 

 its effects in two low quality aspen stands, in a dwarf willow swamp and in a cut- 

 over elm-cottonwood swamp. The soil sterilant was applied in a 3, 5 and 7-foot 

 grid at the rate of one and a half teaspoons per spot. Final results will be evalu- 

 ated in the summer of 1965. Twenty-two shrub covered swamps in the South- 

 western Region were selected in 1964, for chemical site preparation with Dybar 

 in the summer of 1965 and for planting with silver maple and eastern cottonwood 

 in the autumn of the same year. 



Chemical Thinning. A silver maple stand which had been chemically thinned 

 by light, medium and heavy application of 2,4,5-T ester in oil as a basal bark 

 spray once, twice and three times to the same trees, in the same growing season 



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