CHAPTER II 

 COLLECTING AND STORING TREE SEEDS 



OWING to the war there is little doubt that for several 

 years to come adequate supplies of seeds and young forest 

 trees will not be available from their usual sources on the 

 Continent. Vast quantities of both are annually sent to 

 this country from Germany alone, while from other parts 

 of the Continent coniferous seeds in particular are largely 

 imported in fact, we are almost wholly dependent for 

 both seeds and seedlings on foreign supplies. 



Under these circumstances, it behoves the owners of 

 woodlands in every part of the country to collect seeds, 

 particularly of such trees as our plantations are mainly 

 composed of. After these have been properly harvested, 

 they should be stored away in suitable places till seed- 

 sowing time in the spring. To some extent this will be a 

 new forest industry, though for long, the seeds both of 

 Scotch Pine and various hardwooded trees, particularly 

 the Oak, Ash and Elm, have been annually collected on 

 various estates throughout the country, and the young 

 plants raised from such stock have given every satisfaction 

 when planted out permanently. 



For several reasons, however, we cannot compete with 

 foreigners either in the production of seeds or in raising 

 young forest stock. For some years to come, owing to the 

 uncertainty of supplies from abroad, both seeds and seed- 

 lings are bound to be scarce and expensive. 



In the past, far too little attention has been bestowed 

 on the collecting and harvesting of the seeds of trees and 

 shrubs, the result, in not a few cases, being weak and 

 unhealthy plants and an uneven and irregular crop. The 



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