26 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



Growing Young Trees in Nurseries, and, when at proper 

 age, transplanting them into the forests. Of course, all 

 these presume the gathering of seeds, a subject which will 

 be discussed when the various species of timber trees to be 

 grown are described. 



Broadcast Sowing. This is nothing more or less than 

 scattering by hand a suitable amount of seed as evenly as 

 possible over barren or partially covered ground, just as a 

 farmer sows his grain without the aid of a drill or other 

 seed-sower. To be at all successful the ground should be 

 cleared of trees, brush, and weeds, for if these are present 

 in any considerable quantity the young trees will be sup- 

 pressed by them should the seed germinate. If it is gone 

 over with any implement like a harrow, which will scarify 

 the surface and expose the mineral soil, there will be much 

 greater certainty of satisfactory results. A light brush har- 

 row, dragged over the ground by hand after the seeds are 

 sown, will so cover them as to cause quite a satisfactory 

 germination. In the absence of such treatment of the sur- 

 face the seed should be sown on a light snow in the spring, 

 and when the snow melts, the seed will be more or less 

 carried down by the water into the soil, if it is exposed, or 

 among the leaves and litter if such are present. 



There are several somewhat serious objections to this 

 method. One is that germination of the seed is very uncer- 

 tain. It may not fall in a suitable place or may not be cov- 

 ered. To overcome this a large amount of seed must be 

 sown. In Schlich's Manual it is claimed that six pounds of 

 White Pine seed should be sown on an acre of ground. A 

 pound of that seed should produce, in a nursery, from 

 fifteen thousand to sixteen thousand young trees, enough 

 to plant between eight and nine acres of forest ; and if the 

 seed costs only two dollars per pound a low figure the 

 expense would be as great, if not greater, than to plant 

 trees from the nursery. Again, it is utterly impossible to 

 secure an even stand by this method. Many places will re- 

 quire thinning, while others will have to be filled in. Be- 



