CHAPTER VI 



ESTABLISHING A WOODLOT BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS, 

 EITHER BY SEEDING OR PLANTING 



Natural and Artificial Reproduction. — Woodlots are 

 started both artificially and naturally. They are started arti- 

 ficially by planting small trees grown for the purpose or by 

 sowing the seeds of trees. They start naturally from seed 

 sown by the trees themselves or from sprouts from the stumps 

 of trees that have been cut. 



A field that has been abandoned will soon be covered with 

 trees started naturally from seed blown on the field or dropped 

 by animals or birds. Hardwood woodlots from which all the 

 trees have been cut spring up rapidly from sprouts. It is 

 common to see in woodlots that have not been grazed or 

 repeatedly burned by fire, young trees that have started from 

 seed, spring up beneath the older trees where there is sufficient 

 light. Nearly all our woodlots have been started naturally 

 either from seed or from sprouts. 



There are but few woodlots in the country except on the 

 Great Plains and Prairies that have been started by man. 

 Yet artificial reproduction, as it is called, has many advantages 

 over natural reproduction. It is a sure way of starting a 

 woodlot, the trees will be such as the farmer wishes to grow, 

 the woodlot will be well stocked with trees from the start, 

 and the trees will be spaced evenly and at a proper distance 

 apart. Its chief disadvantage is in its greater initial cost. 

 Natural reproduction will often cost nothing. Reproduction 

 from sprouts is obtained at no cost to the owner. Natural re- 



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