THE AUTHOR 



JOHN P. SLOAN is a research forester in the Ecology 

 and Regeneration of Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and 

 Ponderosa Pine research work unit at Boise, ID. He 

 recieved a B.A. degree in biology from Wartburg 

 College and an M.S. degree from the University of 

 Minnesota. He joined the Intermountain Research 

 Station in 1984. 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



Nursery plots sown with the Summit Precision 

 Seeder and the Oyjord Seeder were compared with 

 plots oversown and hand thinned to desired spacings. 

 We studied 26 seedlots of nine conifer species at five 

 Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, nurser- 

 ies. Seed placement by the two seeders varied with 

 nursery, species, and seed characteristics. Neither 



seeder placed seeds exactly, but this lack of precision 

 provided a good comparison with the more exact hand- 

 thinned treatment. Thinned plots showed less clump- 

 ing and fewer gaps between seedlings, but the seed- 

 lings were not significantly bigger than in unthinned 

 plots, nor did thinning increase the number of accept- 

 able seedlings. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I would like to express thanks and appreciation to 

 Jim Lott (deceased) of the Missoula Technology and 

 Development Center, Forest Service, U.S. Department 

 of Agriculture, and Russ Ryker (retired) of the Forest 

 Service's Intermountain Research Station who initiated 

 this study. During their many years of dedicated 

 service, they made valuable contributions to improve 

 forest nursery stock production. 



The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not 

 imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. 



Intermountain Research Station 

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 Ogden, UT 84401 



