204 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE 



of planting, the method of sowing is not to be abso- 

 lutely proscribed. It may be used when seed is 

 abundant and cheap. It should even be preferred 

 to planting when there is a scarcity of labour, or 

 when the season favourable for planting operations 

 is short, or when the area to be planted up is large. 



Besides the methods of planting and sowing, 

 artificial restocking may also be effected by means of 

 slips* and layers. A slip is a branch of a plant sepa- 

 rated from it and put into the ground in order to 

 promote the development of roots, and thus render 

 it an independent individual. A layer is a branch 

 which is bent and laid in the ground, but is not 

 separated from the parent stem, until it has thrown 

 out adventitious roots. But these methods, which 

 will be treated of further on, are- employed only 

 exceptionally. 



SELECTION, HARVESTING AND PRESERVATION OF 

 SEEDS. To have no doubt about the quality of the 

 seeds, they must be gathered personally and from 

 picked trees. Thus those trees ought to be preferred, 

 which are completely fertile, and at the same time 

 sound and vigorous. Very young trees furnish many 

 barren seeds, while very old ones yield seeds which 

 produce weak plants. Deformed trees also ought to 

 be avoided, as they give rise to defective varieties. 

 In a word, one cannot be too careful in the selection 

 of trees for seed-bearers. Unfortunately it is often 

 impossible to exercise complete supervision. 



* The term in common use is " cutting ; " but as this word has 

 already been used for an operation, in the sense of " felling," we 

 have preferred the less familiar word " slip," believing that the 

 essence of a good terminology is the absence of all ambiguity. 



