14 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



The above methods will be practiced more and more in the 

 United States, because the initial cost is usually less than in 

 seeding and planting. In working the forest with the expecta- 

 tion of natural restocking, no matter what silvicultural system is 



FIG. 8. Scattered seed trees left to provide seed for the natural regeneration 

 of beech and to supplement the artificial regeneration of spruce. Tharandt, 

 Saxony. 



followed, the preliminary and final cuttings must result in the 

 creation of a suitable environment for seed production and dis- 

 semination and for germination, growth, and development. 



17. ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING NECESSARY 



Although the forester must depend upon natural reproduction 

 in the great majority of cases, in every well-managed forest it 

 must be supplemented by seeding or planting. Even under a 

 shelter wood when the trees stand directly over the area to be 

 stocked, natural reproduction is often incomplete; open spaces 

 occur which must be filled by artificial means if the resulting 

 stand is to be complete and of uniform density. The natural re- 

 stocking of cleared areas from adjacent woods is nearly always 

 more or less imperfect, particularly when the cleared areas are 

 large. Its success depends also very largely upon the kind and 



