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ine state Forester added that Virginia is first in the nation in total acres devoted to tree improvement programs. The Virginia Division of Forestry and the forest industry have in operation over 200 acres of seed orchard and 1,125 acres of seed production areas. Seed orchards are areas where genetically superior trees are grown to pro duce seed for sowing in the nurseries. The Division of Forestry was one of the pioneers in seed orchard work. The program was launched in 1953 when the search began for the finest trees that could be found in the state. Most of the effort has been directed toward loblolly, shortleaf and white pine species. Some work is now being done with yellow poplar. For a tree to be considered for the seed orchard program it must comply with a very severe set of standards. So severe, in fact, that only 42 loblolly pines in the state have qualified for the Division ! of Forestry orchard. When a tree is found that meets the standards,branches are shot down with a rifle. The branches are then grafted into root stock growing in the orchard. The “new" tree takes in all the characteristics of the superior parent tree. The pro cess is quite similar to apple or peach orchard work said Dean. It will be several years {before any appreciable quantity of seed can be obt a i n e d jfrom the orchards. But]" {eventually all of the seedlings produced in Division nurseries will be the off-spring of the best trees that nature {provides. j Seed production areas are groups of forest grown trees that have desirable characteristics. The area is tended so that only the finest trees are permitted to produce seed. The seed is collected in the fall of the year and processed for sowing in the nurseries the following spring. Seed pro duction area trees are not as perfect as the “superior" trees selected for the seed orchards but they are far better than the “run of the mill" trees found in the forest. Dean said that Virginia's forest products industry, em - ploying over 50,000 persons and one of the state’s largest industries, is dependent upon the forest resource. We
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