DIRECT SOWING VERSUS PLANTING. 263 



management centres in the production of the greatest possible 

 quantity of small material, with the least possible outlay, 

 direct sowing would probably yield better results than plant- 

 ing. Again, for the production of clean timber trees sowings, 

 with their greater density, in many cases may be more suit- 

 able than planting, unless the latter be very close and thus 

 involve a considerable outlay. 



Economy in working is one of the leading requirements in 

 sylviculture. In this respect either sowing or planting may 

 be preferable, according to circumstances ; experience, how- 

 ever, shows that where plants of good quality can be raised 

 at a reasonable outlay, planting yields higher and more 

 valuable returns than direct sowing, if time be taken into 

 consideration. 



Where the land is required for pasture or grass-cutting, 

 planting is decidedly preferable, as cattle can be admitted 

 at an earlier age, while grass-cutting can be commenced 

 at once. 



2. Si/lvicultural System. 



The formation of woods to be treated under the pollarding 

 system, and of osier beds, is best effected by planting. The 

 same may be said of ordinary coppice woods and the produc- 

 tion of standards in coppice. In ordinary seedling forests, 

 either method may be adopted. 



3. Species. 



The species affects the choice of method in various ways. 

 In the first place many species produce seed abundantly only 

 at irregular and often long intervals ; hence continuous opera- 

 tions can be carried on only by planting, as the production of 

 nursery plants requires comparatively small quantities of seed, 

 and this, if necessary, can be obtained from a distance. By 

 keeping a quantity of reserve plants in the nursery, seedless 

 years may be tided over without interrupting the work. 



Species, the seed of which germinates with difficulty or 

 slowly, or the seedlings of which are tender in early youth. 



