2 14 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



The seedlings are transplanted, when two years old, in rows six inches apart 

 and at spaces in the row of about three and one half inches. They are held in 

 the transplant beds until they are five years old before removing them to the 

 plantations. 



Although the purchase of seeds for nursery purposes is a common practice in 

 some localities, the forester in charge of this revier gathers his own supply. 

 As to the silver fir, a full mast occurs about every five years, although this 

 species yields a small amount of seed each year. The cones are gathered about 

 the middle of October. A man climbs up among the branches and breaks off the 

 cones, which are carried immediately to the storehouse and spread out so that 

 the air can circulate through them freely. They are stirred every day and kept in 

 the drying-room until the scales have fully opened or fallen apart. They are then 

 put into baskets and shaken vigorously until the seeds have fallen to the bottom, 

 after which they are easily separated from the refuse material. 



The seed beds are sown in autumn, sometimes in November or December, if 

 snow does not fall too early. If the weather is very moist the cones may 

 not open in time for fall planting. In that case the seed is, of course, sown 

 the next spring. 



The absence of nurseries in some parts of the Black Forest, or elsewhere, 

 does not necessarily imply that young plants are not used there in reforesting 

 operations. In the Sulzburg reviers, for instance, the oberforster, as explained 

 by him, is doing very little in the way of seed plots, because he can buy seed- 

 lings from the commercial nurseries as cheaply as, if not cheaper than, he can 

 raise them himself. This is not remarkable, as it is evident that in a nursery 

 of one hundred acres or more, devoted solely to commercial purposes, the plants 

 can be raised more cheaply, and with a profit, than in one of two acres, espe- 

 cially as in the latter case the forester has other and more important duties 

 that engross his attention. Furthermore, under the excellent and intensive 

 management of the Sulzburg reviers a satisfactory reproduction is obtained 

 through natural dissemination. 



3 wither land. 



As most of the forests in this country occupy slopes, more or less steep, 

 they exercise protective functions which necessitate the selection system in their 

 exploitation, and hence there is not the same need for nurseries as in countries 

 where clean cutting is practiced. Reproduction by natural dissemination is largely 

 the rule, noticeably so in the forest of the Sihlwald, famous for its intensive 

 management and the highly profitable returns per acre which have been main- 



