84 TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



in my opinion, to fall planting. Our appropriation that year, as usual, did 

 not become available until too late for the spring work, and, rather than 

 carry it over to 1906, we decided to risk the experiment. 



The stock used consisted entirely of four-year old transplants from our 

 own nurseries, and in size and thrifty appearance were all that we could 

 desire. But many of these little trees, weakened by the shock of removal 

 from the nursery beds, were unable to withstand the wintry exposure that 

 immediately followed and the severe frosts that occurred in the ensuing 

 spring. Most of the dead plants at Chub Hill were replaced the next spring 

 with live ones, and as the latter had lived and thrived it is evident that the 

 failure of the others was not due to any lack of vitality or to the barren 

 soil. I am aware that in some places where the climate and other condi- 

 tions are favorable, fall planting of seedling conifers has been successful; 

 but, if attempted on the Adirondack plateau, the long, severe winter, fol- 

 lowed by the usual late spring, will cause too large a percentage of failures. 

 With this experience in mind we shall hereafter make our plantations in 

 May. 



In addition to the 548,000 trees set out in 1906, some work was done 

 that year near Paul Smith's by the seed-spot method. Forty acres were 

 planted in this way with seeds of white and Scotch pine. In 1906 about 

 eleven acres more of spots were made in which the forester used seeds of 

 Norway, white, native red, and Douglas spruce; also, some balsam and Nor- 

 way pine. 



The spots were made by hacking up the sod or soil with a mattock, 

 exposing a small area of fresh ground twenty inches or more across, which 

 was worked slightly to prepare it for the seed. The loose earth on the sur- 

 face was then slightly firmed with the foot — an important and necessary 

 part of the work — ■ and eight to twelve seeds scattered over it, after which 

 they were lightly covered with a handful of pulverized earth. The spots 

 were made at spaces of six feet from centre to centre in each direction, 

 though four feet would have been better. Hereafter we shall use the latter 

 interval for plantations of this kind. 



The germination was satisfactory, the spots, with few exceptions, show- 

 ing from one to ten sprouts. In three or four years, when these seedlings 

 have attained a suitable size, the most promising ones will be selected for 



