The Site leader also continued research in the principles and methods of 

 establishing significant relationships between physiographic site, specific vegetative 

 cover types and wildlife production. A paper entitled "The Use of Physiographically 

 Defined Land Units to Rate the Potential of Land for Wildlife Production" has 

 been prepared. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



The Site Unit was host to the 1965 meeting of The Northeastern Forest Soils 

 Conference, held near Orillia, Ontario. The theme of the meeting was 'Evaluating 

 the Productivity of Forest Land'. Participants included soil specialists and forest 

 ecologists from all the eastern provinces of Canada and from the States of North 

 Eastern United States. 



Members of the Site Unit also attended a meeting of the National Advisory 

 Committee on Forest Lands, Ottawa, Jan. 1966. (The leader of the Site Unit is the 

 official delegate of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests.) 



Reforestation 



The purpose of projects in reforestation research is to assist management in 

 developing improved methods of artificial regeneration. Studies are made of both 

 practical and theoretical problems that arise in field operations. 



NURSERY OPERATIONS AND PLANTING 



The chief concern in nursery production is to supply quality stock, which is 

 determined by success after planting. In the 1964-65 year a study was started on 

 the relationship between nursery fertility and planting site fertility. The idea is no 

 longer held valid that trees grown in high-fertility nursery beds have the best chance 

 of success on planting sites of both low and high fertility. Research plots have been 

 established at several nurseries to ascertain the best levels of fertility in nurseries 

 for different levels in proposed planting sites. 



In the past year, greenhouse and field experiments were started to determine 

 if there is an advantage, at the time of shipping nursery stock, of dipping roots of 

 trees in a clay, or clay and fertilizer, solution. 



Additional experiment plots were established to study the effects of removal 

 of competition by cultivation after planting on the growth of some species. This 

 project also involves adjustment of soil acidity levels and application of fertilizers 

 to obtain optimum growth conditions. 



Results of some of the long-term projects have shown the need for apprecia- 

 tion of technical detail in planting procedures. For example, it was found that the 

 growth rate of jack pine was depressed by as much as 10 percent, for over 15 years, 

 by planting too late in the spring. Root pruning in the nursery was found to be of 

 benefit only to some species and under some conditions, and to have long-reaching 

 depressing effects on growth if done incorrectly. 



The use of fertilizers to improve growth in nurseries is of wide interest. Studies 

 in the nursery are aimed at finding limitations in the amount of stimulation of 

 growth that can be safely used before the trees are planted out. 



FROST AND DROUGHT STUDIES 



Frost after planting has been one of the most important factors in causing 

 damage or mortality. Visible damage is often widespread. Study of frost damage 



249 



