THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

_ With the cold-storage unit,
‘tle planting season can be
extended a full month, until
‘ late May.
= This is so because cold-
_ storage delays development
of the seedlings. In warm
weather, the seedlings may
- bud before they can be
ptanted. Once this happens,
mortality rate soars, render-
irig planting programs im-
practical.
In cold storage, seedlings
don’t bud. They remain fresh
and the foresters gain an ex-
tfa month on nature.
Cold storage also enables
the seedlings to be lifted from
the nurseries conveniently,
| without exact day-to-day cor-
| relation with the company’s
| planting program.
' )*The locker can also be suc-
' eéssfully used to keep graft-
=. ig twigs in fresh, prime con-
dition until they are needed.
_ Aad pollen has been success-
\ ee, stored too until it is
/ wanted to artificially fertilize
| special test trees.
; ~The greenhouse just built
' on a bluff overlooking the
._. fawn of Gold River will figure
™ s'ominently in the future for-
_ | estry program.
\ | “This summer it will be put
| te work rooting three or four

7

‘inch long cuttings of hemlock
| which have been cut or shot
from plus trees.

“Hemlock twigs are too

stall and spindly for the nor-
mal grafting processes, so
they will be placed in a mix-
ftire of sand and peat moss to

_

yn of Douglas fir and protected with muslin

take hold and produce trees
that will eventually be a
source of seed for future re-
planting programs.

It is planned to try to root
Douglas fir cuttings in the
greenhouse too, but most of
the Douglas fir seed-tree
stock will continue to be pro-
duced by the traditional graft-
ing method.

The area adjacent to the
greenhouse has been planted
with Douglas fir rootstock for
future grafting.

Although the forestry pro-
gram has concentrated on
Douglas fir for the past seven

years, it is now starting to
work more with hemlock,
which produces more wood
per acre and is especially val-
uable for pulp production.

It has been found too, that
mixed stands of hemlock and

Douglas fir are especially
productive.

Behind the whole program
is the company’s determina-
tion to make _ tree-farming
more than a phrase and to
carry out the full intent. of
the provincial government in
perpetuating the forest re-
sources of British Columbia.

DICK KOSICK, resident forester at Tahsis Company Ltd.’s
Gold River Logging Division, examines two-year-old Doug-
las fir planted immediately after slash-burn on TFL 19

in April 1966.

EXAMINING week-old Douglas fir graft on tree tarm.
Graft is covered with polyethylene bag to retain moisture,

and a kraft bag is placed over this to prevent over-heating
by the sun.

CHECKING grafts on one of six clone banks.