QUANTITY OF SEED TO SOW. 273 



order, complete sowing with tilth, combinations of strip-trench- 

 ridge, strips, trenches, ridges, combinations of patch-pit-mound, 

 patches, pits, mounds, holes, and, lastly, plots. 



(iii) On the state of preparation of the soil. The better pre- 

 pared the soil is for the germination of seeds and the development 

 of the seedlings, the fewer will be the casualties, and hence the 

 sparser need be the sowing. 



(iv) On the nature of the soil and locality. The drier the soil 

 is, or the heavier the growth of weeds, or the severer the climate, 

 and so on, the earlier should the leaf-canopy be formed and the 

 thicker must, therefore, be the sowing. 



(v) On the special risks, independent of tJie soil and the locality, 

 to which the seedlings are liable to be exposed. Such are depreda- 

 tions of animals, night-frosts, &c. 



(vi) On the nature and habits and requirements of the species to 

 be propagated. For instance, the profuseness of the sowing will 

 be in direct proportion to the delicate nature of the seedlings, their 

 slowness of growth, the narrowness of their crowns, the difficulty 

 with which natural pruning takes place, and so on. 



(vii) On the most advantageous density of groivth under the 

 given circumstances. A too dense or a too open growth are equally 

 harmful. In the former case, the expenditure is needlessly in- 

 creased by the larger area cultivated, by seed wasted, and by thin- 

 nings rendered necessary before the individual stems become 

 marketable, while the crop itself suffers deterioration owing to the 

 weedy growth of the component trees, the ultimate result being 

 loss of production. In the latter case, the leaf-canopy forms too 

 late either to protect the soil or to protect and draw up the compo- 

 nent stems, and costly repairs become necessary to replace the 

 numerous casualties, the result here being also loss of production, 

 (viiij On the object to be fulfilled by the sowings. Thus sowing 

 should be profuse, if tall trees with long, straight, clean boles are 

 desired ; more or less sparse, if the object is only to fill up small 

 blank intervals in the midst of existing forest, or to introduce or 

 increase the proportion of a certain species, or to obtain timber of 

 large girth early ; and so on. 



Absolutely speaking and having due regard to all the conditions 

 just enumerated, the quantity of seed to sow should be sufficient, 

 according to the severity or mildness of the climate, the dryness or 

 humidity of the soil, and the delicate or hardy constitution of the 

 seedlings, to produce a complete leaf-canopy within a period rang- 

 ing from 8 to 15 years after the sowing. 



