XIII 



THE FOREST NURSERY 



PLANTING or sowing seeds where the trees are to grow 

 to maturity is frequently advisable, and in some instances 

 and with some species, may prove to be the most satisfac- 

 tory method, but experience shows that growing certain 

 kinds in a nursery and, when large enough, transplanting 

 them into the forest is far more likely to be successful. The 

 reason for this is that in the nursery the young trees are 

 protected and cared for until they are large enough to con- 

 tend successfully with the adverse surroundings which they 

 are almost certain to encounter in early life from the pres- 

 ence of brush, weeds, and grass that almost invariably exist 

 on the ground where the forest is to stand. Only on limited 

 areas can tree seeds be planted where the forest is to grow 

 without the tiny and almost helpless seedlings encountering 

 unfavorable conditions which will render them liable to be 

 greatly retarded in growth or killed outright. We know 

 full well that our farm and garden crops must be protected 

 from weeds in early life, and should be at all ages to 

 be profitable, and it is precisely the same with young 

 trees. 



It may appear paradoxical but it is an established fact 

 that many species of trees can be grown from seed in a 

 nursery and properly treated there until three or four years 

 old, their sojourn in the nursery to depend largely upon 

 the species, and can then be set out in the forest, where they 

 will, at the end of six or eight years, be larger, more vigor- 

 ous, and better able to withstand encroachments upon their 

 domain, whereby they are robbed of moisture, food, and 

 light by worthless and greedy vegetable growth, than will 

 be those of the same age from seed sown or planted in pre- 



