Connecticut Establishes a Seed Orchard

In 1950 the Forestry Division of the Connecticut State Park and Forest Commission began exploring the possibility of obtaining seed for its forest nursery from local seeds. Nursery stock raised for forest planting in Connecticut is entirely coniferous, and as most of the species used are not native to this State it will be necessary either to collect seed from plantations already established or to establish seed orchards for future collections. For the present, advantage will be taken of the occasional seed years to collect from selected plantations where the trees seem well adapted to local conditions. We recognize that this is at best a stop-gap procedure, Little, if anything, will be known concerning the origin of parent trees; closed stands produce small quantities of cones making the seed collection difficult and expensive. It therefore seems logical that we should explore the possibility of establishing seed orchards.

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Author(s): H. A. McKusick

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Issue 8 (1951)