Forest planting and tree planting are two different things. The
orchardist, who plants for fruit; the landscape gardener, who plants
for form; the roadside planter, who plants for shade, all have objects
in view different from that of the forest planter, and therefore
select and use their plant material differently. They deal with single
individual trees, each one by itself destined for a definite purpose.
The forester, on the other hand, plants a crop like the farmer; he
deals not with the single seed or plant, but with masses of trees; the
individual tree has value to him only as apart of the whole. It may
come to harvest for its timber, or it may not come to harvest, and yet
have answered its purpose as a part of the whole in shading the ground,
or acting as nurse or "forwarder" as long as it was necessary.
His object is not to grow trees, but to produce wood, the largest
amount of the best quality per acre, whether it be stored in one tree
or in many, and his methods must be directed to that end.
As far as the manner of setting out plants or sowing seeds is
concerned, the same general principles and the same care in
manipulation are applicable as in any other planting, except as the
coat of operating on so Large a scale may necessitate less careful
methods than the gardener or nurseryman can afford to apply; the
nearer, however, the performance of planting can be brought to the
careful manner of the gardener, the surer the success. The principles
underlying such methods have been discussed in the chapter "How trees
grow;" in the present chapter it is proposed to point out briefly
the special considerations which should guide the forest planter in
particular.