404 



Canadian Forestry Magazine, August-September^ 1920. 



Source of Seed Supply 



Too little attention has been g^iven to 

 the source of the seed supply, which ha'^ 

 thus far been used in the propaqj'ation of 

 nursery stock. The experiments of 

 European foresters alongr this line of in- 

 qtu'ry show conclusively that good nur- 

 sery manai^ement ^ always requires a 

 thorouo-h knowledge not only of the 

 locality from which seed of different 

 species is procured, but also full d-tM'- 

 culars about the seed trees themselves. 



The shortcomings of former laxitv on 

 this phase of seedlinfj production are 

 now becomins: evident in some of the 

 older plantations in Pennsvlvania. Not 

 all undesirable features Avhich are trans- 

 mitted throu£jh seeds become e-^d-'ent in 

 the seedlincf or sanlinn;- stage of a t^'ee's 

 life, but turn up later on. It seems to 

 'follow that extra effort should be nut 

 fortli to <ret the best possible seed for 

 use in nurserv work. Onlv see^^ the 

 full historv of which is known, shnnld 

 be iised. Other thino-s beinc equ^l it 

 mav be most advantageous to collect 

 seeds locallv from known seed trees, 

 rather than to depend upon an^l take a 

 chance on foreijrn or other rlisfnt sup- 

 plies. 



When to Soiv Seeds 



Much has been written an'^l more has 

 been said about spring- and fall sowin<^ 

 of seed in nursery beds. The ^^ennsvl- 

 vania experiments show corclusiveb^ 

 that fall sowinp- of seeds, particularlv of 

 coniferous species, Jrives far superior re- 

 sults to sprine soM'ine. Fall is Nature's 

 time to sow. and what is far more im- 

 portant, earlv sprino- is Nature's bes*^ 

 time for germination and g-rowth. T<^ 

 the seed is not sowed until sprinsf — and 

 it is usuallv deferred until after the 

 shippinp- rush is over — then the .a:rowt1i 

 takes place during^ an abnormallv late 

 period for growth. 



„One-vear-old white pine seedlings 

 raised from fall sown seed in the Mont 

 Alto nursery were fullv 35 per cent, su- 

 perior to those gfrown from spring- sown 

 seed. The advantag^e of fall sowing- also 

 su.g-g;-ests the local collection of tree see-^l 

 for so often the seed is not available for 

 fall planting- if procured from -''is'^ant 

 places. 



Where to Plant 

 Another Pennsylvania experience is 

 worthy of consideration. It pertains to 

 the planting- of cut-over and burnt-over 

 areas. Immediately after vast areas 

 were ctit-over and then burnt-over re- 

 peatedly, they appeared to be completely 

 devoid of any woody _g^rowth of value. 

 Miles of mountain slopes seemed to be 

 without any trace of tree growth. Then, 

 the best informed and most widely ex- 

 perienced foresters ag-reed that planting- 

 was the only available means of restor- 

 ing- these vast unproductive deserts. But 

 the unexpected has happened in many 

 places. Time has shown that nature 

 works in wonderous ways, and that if 

 fires are kept out of our forests there 

 will appear upon our hillsides a fair 

 g-rowth of valuable forest trees. It is 

 quite probable that the conclusions about 

 natural forest replacement in the earlv 

 days of forestry were based upon past 

 experiences, when fires occurred fre- 

 quently and did not give nature a chance 

 to show its power. 



Restocking Idle Lands 



To date almost 23,000 acres have been 

 planted on the State Forests of Pennsyl- 

 vania, upon sites rang-ing- from abandon- 

 ed fields, waste places, burned areas, 

 lumbered tracts, Scrub Oak barrens" and 

 Fire Cherrv and Aspen covered areas, 

 to the underplanting: of mature stands. 

 The 1,200 separate plantations establish- 

 ed in Pennsylvania during- the past 

 twenty years show that planting- may b'" 

 done successfully and economically, and 

 that plantations are relatively safer froi-i-' 

 fire than other forest areas because of 

 the interest the public takes in planted 

 trees and the value people place upon 

 them. Rut g-reat care should be exercis- 

 ed in selecting planting- sites, for plant- 

 ing- shoidd onlv supplement natural for- 

 est replacenient and not work counter 

 to it. In or'Vr that planning- may be 

 done judiciouslv the subiect of natural 

 forest succession on different sites an^ 

 in different regions should be worked 

 out thorouo"hly before plantinr^ is at- 

 tempted. For only then, will it be poss- 

 ible to know what areas should be plant- 

 ed anrl where it is reasonable to exoect 

 a satisfactory natural g-rowth. It is now 

 clear that nature will do more to restore 



