ESTABLISHING A WOODLOT 51 



Use of Wild Stock. — Seedlings of trees for planting can 

 often be dug up on the edges or in openings in the woods or 

 along roads and under trees in the open. This is known as 

 wild stock. If planted out at once the seedlings are not likely 

 to live, because seedlings grown naturally produce very spread- 

 ing root systems. When they are dug up a large portion of 

 the roots is destroyed. If planted in the nursery for a year 

 where they can be cultivated and cared for, new roots will 

 be formed, making a hardy tree that can safely be planted 

 out in the field or woodlot. Thousands of seedlings of trees 

 are often seen growing in this way that can be collected at 

 no cost except the labor of gathering them. It must be re- 

 membered in gathering wild stock that the conditions under 

 which a tree grows can not be changed suddenly or the tree 

 will die. Seedlings should not be dug from shady situations 

 and planted in the sun. 



THE TIME OF PLANTING THE SEEDLINGS 



The best time to start the planting is early in the spring, 

 as soon as the ground can be worked and before the spring 

 rains. Hardwood trees should be planted before the buds 

 have opened ; evergreens before the new growth has started. 

 Fall planting is sometimes practiced, especially where the 

 moist season comes in the fall of the year instead of the spring. 

 Seedlings planted in the fall are in danger of being heaved 

 out of the soil by alternate freezing and thawing, and the roots 

 not having a good hold on the ground and being unable to 

 absorb moisture readily may be winterkilled. Planted in the 

 spring the seedlings begin to grow at once and get a hold on 

 the soil, and unless a very dry season follows the planting 

 most of the trees will live. Where the planting is started by 

 sowing the seed directly where the trees are to grow, the seed 

 is kept over winter, as has been described, and planted early 

 in the spring, but seed that ripens in the spring of the year 

 should be planted at once. Cloudy days should be chosen 



