NURSERY PRACTICE FOR PRAIRIE-PLAINS PLANTING 



Many European countries have established a system of voluntary 

 or obligatory certification of tree seed. In their century or more of 

 experience in tree planting they have learned the disastrous effects of 

 wrong seed source and poor form and vigor of parent trees on the 

 progeny. For instance, it has been observed that if the average tem- 

 perature of a forest plantation of Scotch pine differs by more than 

 2° F. from that of the seed source, the growth rate of the trees in their 

 new habitat will be unsatisfactory. It has also been found inadvis- 

 able to use seed which has been produced more than 1° of latitude 

 (about 70 miles) or more than 300 feet in elevation from the planting 

 site. 



In all forest planting work in which trees native to the region are 

 being used, the employment of seed from the nearest possible source 

 will best guarantee those qualities of hardiness and vigor which make 

 for success in the long run. However, in the prairie-plains region, 

 where the native species because of sparse rainfall are greatly limited 

 in variety, there is always a temptation to use trees creating a more 

 novel or variegated appearance or holding the promise of quicker 

 growth or more profitable yield. Most of these promises are false, 

 and as a result many failures occur. 



It would seem much wiser for the buyer to depend mostly on pur- 

 chases of nursery stock of native origin and include only such exotic 

 species as have been introduced long enough that true evaluation of 

 their worth has already been made by the Department of Agriculture 

 and the various State experiment stations. For this reason, in the 

 list of recommended species given in table 1 are included only those 

 foreign introductions which have been proved to be adaptable to 

 conditions of climate and soil in some portion of the prairie-plains. 

 Of these, Russian-olive alone is recommended without reservation 

 for all parts of the region. The rest, as well as many of the indigenous 

 species, are suited best to that portion indicated roughly by the State 

 or States checked in the table. Details on soil adaptability of the 

 various species are reported in detail by Hayes and Stoeckeler (15)} 



A minimum program for guidance in collecting tree seed on the 

 prairie-plains should incorporate the following: 



1 . Zoning of the seed-collection area on a basis of climate. 



2. Limiting collection largely to local seed. 



3. Picking seed only from healthy and vigorous trees of reasonably 

 good form. 



4. Keeping a careful permanent record of seed source from time of 

 collection through to the field planting, including proper identification 

 and labeling of the seed and a record of place and altitude of col- 

 lection. 



5. Importation of seed from foreign countries only after giving all 

 possible study to the past experience with seed from different foreign 

 sources. 



4 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 155. 



