82 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



6. CHOICE BETWEEN DIRECT SEEDING AND PLANTING 



Direct seeding is the formation of a wood by sowing seed directly 

 on the area to be stocked. Planting is the formation of a wood by 

 setting out wild or nursery-grown plants. Before attempting arti- 

 ficial regeneration, a choice must be made between the two 

 methods. 



The history of artificial regeneration shows that direct seeding is 

 the rule and planting the exception in the early development of for- 

 estry in every country. Direct seeding finally gives way to plant- 

 ing. This, in turn, has often been carried to excess. At the present 

 time, foresters generally concede that the particular circumstances 

 of each case should determine the form of artificial reproduction 

 to practice. Planting is generally conceded to be the quickest, 

 safest and easiest known method of restocking. 1 Its economic 

 application, however, must always be a determining factor in its 

 employment. In favorable localities with excellent soil conditions 

 and with acceptable species, direct seeding is usually less expensive. 

 Under the following conditions, however, planting is much more 

 certain and, on the whole, less expensive than direct seeding: 



a. On swampy lands, unprotected areas, sites overgrown with 

 weeds or grass, and open, heath-covered places. 



b. Under an open stand of intolerant trees where the soil is 

 liable to become quickly overgrown with herbaceous and shrubby 

 growth. 



c. On unstable soil such as shifting sand and water-eroded 

 places; also on lands subject to inundation. 



d. On lands superficially hardened; on thin, exposed soils; and 

 on light, sandy soils. 



e. On lands in mountainous regions subject to slipping under 

 the action of weather and water. 



/. In the repairing of failed places in both natural and artificial 

 regeneration. 



Frornbling 2 believes that in Europe the advantages of planting 

 and the disadvantages of seeding have been overstated. He 

 believes that dense sowings have a great advantage over plant- 

 ings, because in the former case competition for space results in 



1 Mayr, Heinrich: Waldbau auf naturgesetzlecher Grundlage. S. 388. 

 Berlin, 1909. 



2 Frombling, F. W.: Saat oder pflanzung? (Forstw. Centralblatt, S. 253- 

 271. 1910.) 



