4 MISC. PUBLICATION 4 3 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



contributions as well. This activity involves the planting of soil- 

 holding trees and shrubs along gullies and on steep and eroded pastures 

 or abandoned farm land, as well as the establishment of windbreaks 

 and shelterbelts on the level stretches. Such plantings, which in this 

 region are for the most part of deciduous species, are requiring many 

 millions of trees each year and make strong demands on the forest 

 nurseries as well as on the speed and efficiency of planting crews. 



In view of the urgent need for information on behalf of these and 

 subsequent large planting activities on the prairie-plains, this publica- 

 tion attempts to bring together the accumulated experience 3 of the 

 Forest Service in the field of nursery practice for deciduous trees and 

 shrubs, especially for the prairie-plains region, including all phases of 

 propagation, from the collection of the seed to the shipment of the 

 trees out of the nursery. This information, it is hoped, will be of wide- 

 spread interest to nurserymen, foresters, and game conservationists. 



COLLECTION AND HANDLING OF SEED 

 Importance of Seed Source 



The source of seed of a plant is of utmost importance in determin- 

 ing the adaptability of the particular strain to its new environment. 

 It often has a marked influence on growth rate, yield, form, longevity, 

 susceptibility to insect and disease attack, ability to withstand 

 extremes of temperature, and on ability to reproduce naturally. 

 Years of experience in agronomy and horticulture have shown that 

 it is extremely unwise to use seed of unknown origin. To protect the 

 buyer, specific laws have been passed by the various State legislatures 

 regarding identification of source and variety and declaration of the 

 purity and germinability of seed used in ordinary farming practices. 



Although no legislation exists regarding the certification of seeds 

 and shrubs used in forest planting and other revegetational work, 

 much the same result is accomplished by the statement of seed policy 

 approved by Secretary Wallace for the Department of Agriculture in 

 June, 1939. This provides that, on its various planting activities, 

 only locally produced seed of traceable origin shall be used, if obtain- 

 able, and that substitutions shall be confined to seed from localities 

 having very similar climate and altitude. Seed lots and nursery 

 stock used in forest, shelterbelt, and erosion-control planting on 

 projects of the Department shall be accompanied not only by a record 

 of such particulars as species and year of collection, but also by proof 

 of origin, including the locality and elevation of the place where the 

 parent stock grew. 



3 Although many men of the Forest Service have contributed their knowledge and experience to this 

 summary, the work of Assistant Regional Forester D. S. Olson has particularly laid the groundwork for it, 

 and his long and successful experience in propagating both hardwoods and conifers deserves special mention. 

 In addition, separate contributions were made by Ernest Wright, of the Bureau of Plant Industry; J. A. 

 Beal, L. G. Baumhofer, and N. D. Wygant.of the Bureau of Entomology; Harold Haecker and F. E. Gar- 

 lough, of the then Bureau of Biological Survey; and I. D. Wood and R. Hilliary, formerly with the. Division 

 of Engineering, Prairie States Forestry Project. Credit is also due to the Works Progress Administration 

 for help in collecting some of the field data. The facts presented are based largely on field experience of the 

 Forest Service in administration of its Prairie States Forestry Project, and on laboratory and field tests 

 conducted by its Lake States Forest Experiment Station. 



