,,., , "·
..
-_,._,•.•,--..!...·
-,
-
-·
-
-,,
"
....... .\"'"""-''"'�r.<s�.�� ;-;-;��-�:;;
��7�
.
....
'
_,··..-,.:..
-
· .- : - - ; ;:;.-. ,:-:,..
- ...;',;
" . - ,-..-,..,:.;. ·.c'--,,;_.=
,;, ="'"
·
'-"
"
.
-
. .
:
.' ..
.
- --1 \,L;L.;s;\df- - .
per year. Southern pine seed or­
ards of similar age have yielded over
pounds per acre per year.
arvesting becomes a problem ·
ol r orchards. As trees get large ,
see collection becomes difficult.
e
mos common equipment is the buc t
truck or cherry picker, although v '.
ous ot er lift devices are available An
alte
method that has met
·th
some s ccess is shaking the con s off
This method, effe ve in
the tre
slash pi e and fairly suc es ful in
Douglas· rt orchards, is not widely
practiced because enough
age is
\
done to the\ crown to reduce the cone
crop for se eral years following har·
vesting,
The use of rietting is a m thod catch­
ing on rapidly\ in the Sou h. Prior to
cone opening, a polypro
ene net is
placed in the orchard. When the cones
are fully open, a ecan s
er is used to
give each tree a very slj'ght shake. Not
much force is needed or desired to col·
lect the seeds and t prevent damage to
the trees. The ri.ettirig is then picked up
on a spool and pulled to the center of
the orchard where . the seed, needles,
and trash are fed through a combine for
preliminary cleaning. 'Jllie seed is then
taken to a seed extrac ry. 'l\venty to
twenty-five percent of t e seed is lost
in this process, mostly to
ects, birds,
and rodents, but seed yie ds have still
been respectable, up to 00 pounds/
-
-
:
0<ef-
,'l
.
,?d-
:�t-.- :·:t.'f_··· )
. .
. ,. ..,_
.. _, .
:.;;.
·- ---
'-
N-''J.•; -;_,-•· .
-
The J.E. Schroeder Forest Tree Seed Orchard in Oregon Innovations in second-generation Douglas-fir orchards.
By Roy R. Silen and Jack Wanek
;,
\
1&l
p
l)hl<
\
acre.
'free seed certification s
now effective in most states.
dards are
nerally
they fol\ow the recommendati ns of the
Association of Official Seed C rtifying
Agencies, formerly the Inte ational
Crop Improvement Association. Indus­
tries usually do not worry abou their
seed being certified; since most
it is
used ill-house. Where seed mig
be
moved' in international trade, cerf ca·
tion clm be quite important. Labe g
infor{nation, designed largely with
·
ternational trade in mind, is valuable
bu ers who do not know the seed p
d er and cannot inspect the seed o
s or the information on which cer­
cation is based. •
y'
Thre ofaeoen 'Separate blocb in a developmental aequence that
prooidn Bite-adapted aeed. Photo. courtesy of the autiwnr.
econd-generation full-sib seed­
ling seed orchards are now the
p r e do m i n a n t p r o g r a m for
coastal Douglas-fir. Seven orchards; ad­
niinistered by the state of Oregon, lie
within the 4()().acre J.E. Schroeder For·
est 'free Seed Orchard complex near
Salem. Since 1973, the orchards have
been established successively in 12- to
42-acre blocks to supply seed for seven local tree-improvement cooperatives.
Ranging in size from 70,000 t o
600,000 acres, the cooperatives involve
ten companies and two government
S
agencies. Each orchard originated as
seed from crosses made among tested
parent trees. Commercial quantities of
seed are being produced ahead of
schedule with a 12 percent or greater
improvement in growth rate and with
Roy R. Silen is project leader for genetics re­
search, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Pacific
Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station,
USDA Forest Service, Corvallis, OR. Jack Wanek
is tree-improvement coordinator and supervisor of
the J.E. Schroeder Forest 'Iree
Seed
Orchard.
State of Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem.
MARCH 1986
31
I
enetics Data for seven seed orchards In cooperative programs at the J.E.
Schroeder Orchard Complex.
Cooperative
programs
Orchard
Size
Ac.
Vernonia
Molalla
Burnt Woods
Umpqua
Nehalem••
Snow Peak
Dallas
Totals
41
14
15
21
9
16
27
143
•
Type
R
E
PC
PC
PC
E
E
Ful sib
families
Age from
No.
495
245
115
419.
68
231
1,676
seed
in 1985
Yr.
14
12
11
9
7
7
3
Pollen
Total cone
Seed
production production production
Bu.
1,216
209
85
10
2
2
0
1.524
% of ttees
64
66
20
15
0
0
0
Lb.
475
47
4
10
0
0
0
536
-
•Abbreviations: R • randomized; E
arranged by midparent elevation from low to high; PC •
orchard locations matched to coordinates of parent trees in program area.
•*This program was started solely on state of Oregon lands, but has recently become part of the
Nehalem Cooperative.
ing\the genetic material into !\OOdlings
. Ef·
or pl\Ultlets must also be op
ficient conversion of seeds into seed­
lings lvfil be dependent orl adequate
fundin to provide the niirsery with
the bestlmanagers, equipinent, and re­
search.
sent-value anhlysis can eas·
benefits are
ily demonstrate that l
possible by'increasing :Seed efficiencies
in the n
.
,'
However, if1 the concept of present­
value economl s ill not fully under­
stood, some mig)l believe that seed is
only worth its n\arket value. Such be­
liefs can directly':lfrect the allocation of
resources to the mirsery for improving
seed efficien . Thi helps explain why
some organizations cl\n afford to spend
millions in /developing new nurseries
while otherS are not all wed $35,000 for
alized how
a new seeder. Once it
proving seed
much earl be gained by
efficiene'y, monies to con ct research
and i,liprove nursery-m nagement
practjees are easy to justify. •
F'\::e
arge
cy
1
)
·
Dal B.
.
South
A sistant Professor and Direc
AW.urn University Southern
Forest Nursery Management
Cooperative
School of Forestry
Alabama Agricultural Erperiment
Staticm
j
$
·'
(Silen, continued from page 32)
ing for 5-year progeny-test data to be­
come available.
Narrowing of the genetic base when
single-pair matings were used for the
interim seed orchard was not a concern.
The breeding program for future gen·
erations is independent of the orchard
program and will cross among progeny
from all superior parents.
Family selection-Wind-pollinated
progeny tests provide a basis for family
roguing because additive genetic varia­
tion explains about 0.8 of family genetic
variability in Douglas-fir. Culling of
poorly performing crosses in the first
orchard produced an orchard with the
top 19 percent (3/1•) of crosses. Roguing
has left the top one-fourth of the fe­
males crossed with the best one-half of
the males, and vice versa, to produce
an interim second-generation orchard.
"Moving front"-'lb produce and up­
grade the second-generation orchards,
the "moving-front" concept, developed
by Libby in 1969, has been practiced.
In the initial set of crosses, many of the
top parents were randomly crossed
with poor ones. Such families were
culled. Replacement has begun with
families from crosses among only the
top-performing parents. Each new full-·
sib family brought two such top-per·
forming parents into the orchard. The
number of new crosses needed to bring
the orchard to a higher standard, using
only the top 25 percent of tested par­
ents, was surprisingly small. New
crosses were added to the orchard
where the innovation was first tried by
planting one-year-old seedlings from
the second and third rounds of crosses
in a band outside the seven-year-old ini­
tial planting.
The orchards are upgraded as re­
measurement of each five-year Phase-I
progeny test provides better informalion from which better genetic material
can be generated. All present orchards
are considered temporary and will be
gradually phased out as they are re­
placed with moving-front accretions.
Pollen production is a concern with
Douglas-fir less than a decade old, even
though about one-third of the orchard
trees produce pollen by ten years.
Some of the better orchard trees from
earliest crossings will probably be re­
tained longer as a source of pollen.
Within-family selection-Heritabil­
ity estimates of progeny height of 0.5 to
0.8 for Douglas-fir families assures that
family selection for height growth will
be effective. All selection among fami­
lies used results of Phase-I field-prog­
eny tests. In theory, only half the addi­
tive genetic variation in a full-sib
orchard resides between families. The
MARCH 1986
35
·
Data for seven seed orchards In cooperative programs at the J.E.
Schroeder Orchard Complex.
Coope rative
programs
Vernonia
Molalla
Burnt Woods
Umpqua
Nehalem••
Snow Peak
Dallas
,_ -···
Totals
Orchard
Size
Ac.
41
14
15
21
9
16
27
143
-
Type•
l
Fu sib
families
R
E
PC
PC
PC
E
E
Age from
Seed
Pollen
seed
Total cone
in 1985 production production production
No.
495·
245
115
419.
68
231
103
1,676
Yr.
14.
12
11
9
7
7
3
Bu.
1,216
209
85
10
2
2
__
o
1,524
% of trees
64
66
20
15
0
0
0
Lb.
475
47
4
10
0
0
o
_
536
·Abbreviations: R randomized: E • arranged by midparent elevation from low to high; PC •
orchard locations matched to coordinates of parent trees in program area. • •This program was st8rted solely on state ofOregon lands, but has recently become part of the Nehalem Cooperative.
dlings
ing\the genetic material into
. Ef·
or phmtlets must also be op
ficien\ conversion of seeds .mto seed­
lings
be dependent o.n adequate
to provide the nursery with
the best
agers, equipP,ent, and re­
search.
sent-value arialysis can eas­
ily demonstrate that large benefits are
possible by 'increasing seed efficiencies
,'
in the nurseey.
However, if\ the concept of present·
value economics is not fully under­
stood, some mig,ht believe that seed is
only worth its n\arket value. Such be­
liefs can directl :iffect the allocation of
resources to tbe ni\rsery for improving
seed efficienci Thi8'helps explain why
some organizations c'an afford to spend
millions in /developin new nurseries
while otherS are not a11 wed $35,000 for
a new seeder. Once it ls realized how
much cari be gained hy iJliproving seed
efficienCy, monies to con ct research
and iiliprove nursery·m agement
practiees are easy to justify. •
+oo
funding\
y
)r
1
I
nakB.south
As'sistant Professor and m
4uburn University Southern
/ F st Nursery Management
Cooperative
I
School of Forestry
Alabama Agricul.tural Experiment Station (Silen, continued from, page 92)
ing for 5-year progeny-test data to be­
come available.
Narrowing of the genetic base when
single-p,a!r matings were used for the
interim seed orchard was not a concern.
The breeding program for future gen­
erations is independent of the orchard
program and will cross among progeny
from all superior parents.
Family selection-Wind·pollinated
progeny tests provide a basis for family
roguing because additive genetic varia­
tion explains about 0.8 of family genetic
variability in Douglas-fir. Culling of
poorly performing crosses in the first
orchard produced an orchard with the
top 19 percent (3/10) of crosses. Roguing
has left the top one-fourth of the fe­
males crossed with the best one-half of
the males, and vice versa, to produce
an interim second-generation orchard.
"Moving frvnt"-'Th produce and up­
grade the second-generation orchards,
the "moving-front1' concept, developed
by Libby in 1969, has been practiced.
In the initial set of crosses, many of the
top parents were randomly crossed
with poor ones. Such families were
culled. Replacement has begun with
families from crosses among only the
top-performing parents. Each new full-'
sib family brought two such top-per­
forming parents into the orchard. The
number of new crosses needed to bring
the orchard to a higher standard, using
only the top 25 percent of tested par­
ents, was surprisingly small. New
crosses were added to the orchard
where the innovation was first tried by
planting one-year-old seedlings from
the second and third rounds of crosses
in a band outside the seven-year-old ini·
tial planting.
The orchards are upgraded as re­
measurement of each five-year Phase-I
progeny test provides better informa·
tion from which better genetic material
can be generated. All present orchards
are considered temporary and will be
gradually phased out as they are re­
placed with moving-front accretions.
Pollen production is a concern with
Douglas-fir less than a decade old, even
though about one-third of the orchard
trees produce pollen by ten years.
Some of the better orchard trees from
earliest crossings W111 probably be re­
tained longer as a source of pollen.
Within-family selection-Heritabil·
ity estimates of progeny height of 0.5 to
0.8 for Douglas-fir families assures that
family. selection for height growth will
be effective. All selection among fami­
lies used results of Phase-I field·prog·
eny tests. In theory, only half the addi·
tive genetic variation in a full-sib
orchard resides between families. The
MARCH 1986
35
- .. .,..._-,____._,...,_ .,,
. --'""""- -;.....;,"'"'.
,-
...:-
·-
A 44-inch tree spade
.,,.,.
-·.-----
, _ .,
_
-- ­
.
-""" -....,,:..;-l.;,:;-�...,,.>&:,.
was used to move 400
trees from a random original planting to a
final maplike orchard designed to mimic
the coordinates of the parent trees.
36
:z
·:--.'.._,--
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY
-_
..J...... ..;.:.......,_,_
.
--·· -,..,
.,___,_., -."'
-�...: ...;-o-....----..-..:-.· -
­
.. - -
--
other half, which resides within fami­
lies, becomes the incentive for selection
within each family. Low within-family
heritabilities, averaging only 0.07 in
early tests, did not excite interest for
within-family selection. Initially all the
orchards were designed to permit only
a 1:3 selection within families. A
weighted scoring of traits that rated
height most heavily but gave some
weight also to straightness, lack of
forking, and lack of stem defect, was
developed for selection.
Within-family heritabilities have re­
cently ranged upwards of 0.20 for
height on uniform sites of Phase-I tests
in the progressive program, a compel­
ling reason for care in test-site selec­
tion. Effective within-family selection
for early height, as well as other de­
sired traits, should be possible on uni­
form sites. A much higher within-fam­
ily selection is being practiced at the
newest of the seven orchards. This is
possible by planting the entire family of
96 individuals in a block. Selection can
be made of the best, second best, and
so on, when the trees are about 12-feet
tall. At that time selected sibs will be
moved to permanent orchard locations.
This advanced procedure fits well into
orchard developments aimed at enhanc·
ing better seed adaptation.
Maplih design for specife adapta­
tilm-The Schroeder Orchard produces
seed mixes that are highly specific to
planting sites. A local, almost template­
like adaptation to clines of increasing
cold and to clines of drought in rain
shadows of ridges is commonly seen in
maps of geographic genetic variation
prepared from experimental and com­
mercial progeny data. Such maps have
now been prepared for each of the
seven cooperatives.
The first orchard was designed to as­
sure a random parental contrib11tion to
the seeds; the last six orchards were
designed to match seeds to specific
planting sites. 'l\vo orchards were de­
signed to place parentage from each
100-foot elevational band into rows that
would produce seeds specific to a plant­
ing-site elevation. However, recent ge­
-·
-
.
.-
-.....
- -<-r_- ·.
,. --or. -
-
-
--"-------
: ', ,,. .
.-. .
.
. .
- --'-- .o.--
"*-'-·-- -­
.
·---­
.
.
. ·•
-
...-.-.....:;.._.
netic maps of the two breeding zones
show that latitude and longitude are
larger components of genetic variation .
than elevation.
. A simple and more effective layout
was employed in the four most recent
orchards. A maplike arrangement
places parentage in the same relative
position as in the breeding zone. A spe­
cific seed mix for a specific planting site
can be made from the section of the
orchard that corresponds to the loca­
tion of the planting site. Such mixes
should be possible for any orchard
where seed is kept separate by parent­
age. The maplike arrangement simpli­
fies the job and assures a local pollen
source.
Instant seed orch ard- The first
large-scale rearranging of full-sib prog­
eny took place in 1980. After roguing
poorer families, the solution to an unde­
sired mixing of two populations, once
thought to be uniform but now known
to be genetically different, was to move
the best progeny of each remaining
cross of one population into an adjoin­
ing site, thus separating the two popu­
lations. This was done using a tree
spade. The orchard trees averaged a
height of ten feet at the time. Each tree
was moved into its final orchard posi­
tion to produce an "instant seed or­
chard" at the new site.
Roguing seedling orchards of unde­
sirable families and further roguing
within each family had become a major
expense. Altogether over 15 trees were
removed for each final orchard tree.
Much of this expense can be reduced,
and a better within-family selection
achieved, if initial planting is in family
blncks and selected individuals are
moved to final orchard positions. The
layout can then be planned as a maplike
geographic pattern within the instant­
seed-orchard concept. Also, individuals
of similar flowering phenology can be
placed together.
Mass suwlemental pollinatilm-The
last three orchard crops have been aug­
mented with pollen mechanically ap­
plied to individual trees. The methodol­
ogy is still being assessed. Pollen,
t· <c-:
·-:.: ,
••
:·
'!. ;;,.�;:.,_.:,...: '.:·.-..._.,..:._
_._ _:._,_i.,.__-':;:.;.;.
...._.d•• •·;,• ..
wa·.:...w- ,_,, .;;;:.....-.
1Jl'8daced in
the older orchards, is ap­
plied to individual trees pneumatically
with a wand from a three-wheeled
power lifL
Except in years with severe spring
frosts, seed has been enhanced when
adequate pollen is supplied. The prac­
tice also amplifies the precision with
which a seed mix suitable for a specific
locale can be made. Several pollen
mixes can be applied to an orchard
about as easily as a single mix. For the
oldest orchards in which trees are be­
ginning to produce copious pollen, a
large mechanical blower is used to gen­
erate a pollen cloud as a more economi­
cal but less exact approach.
Pollen contamination control-Dur­
ing a good crop year at flowering time,
Douglas-fir pollen is in every cubic inch
of air over western Oregon. Regional
background pollen levels of over 2,000
grains per square inch are common. A
Douglas-fir study conducted in 1964 re­
corded pollen counts of 837 to 6,941
grains per square inch in six seed or­
chards before each orchard produced
any pollen.
A pollen-contamination problem ex­
ists to some degree in every Oregon
orchard. One successful commercial so­
lution uses water sprays to delay flow­
ering until local pollen sources have
shed. Even though ample water is
available from on-site wells to apply
this technique, a water system to effec­
tively spray the orchard is estimated to
cost over $500,000. Schroeder Orchard
personnel are cooperating with Cana­
dian orchardists to develop another so­
lution-"getting there first" with sup­
plemental mass pollination to block
stray pollen from entering the micro­
pyle of embryonic seed.
Practical Forest Genetics
The Schroeder Orchard has success­
fully incorporated an array of innova­
tive concepts. By 1985, maturing field
tests of parents assured gains in vol­
ume gTOWth rate of about 12 percent for
a seed mix of parents that originate
within a few miles of the planting site.
'>
- .;;;,._;,._
J...-t-'-"-
- enetics ·.
Knowing that such an orchard is suc­
cessful should encourage other seed or­
chardists to apply imagination and cre­
ativity in approaching their goal of
producing superior seed. •
Suggested Reading
BOYER, J.N., and D.B. SoUTH. 1984. Forest nur­
sery practices in the South. South. J. Appl. For.
8:67-75.
CAMPBELL, R.K. 1979. Genecology of Douglas-fir
in a watershed in the Oregon Cascades. Ecology
60( 5 ),1036-1050.
EL K.ASSABY, Y.A., A.M.K. F ASHLER, and 0. SZIK­
LAI.
Reproductive phenology and its impact on
A portable high-lead yarder removes 10year-old trees. Innovations in orchard
design have reduced expense of selecting
a final orchard tree from 16 initially
planted.
genetically improved seed production in a
Douglas-fir seed orchard. Silv. Gen. (in press).
FASHLER, A.M.K., and W.G.B. DEVITT. 1980. A
practical
solution to Douglas-fir seed orchard
pollen contamination. For. Chrrin. 56 ( 5 ) :237­
241.
LANGNER. W., and K. STERN. 1955. Versucbstech­
niscbe Probleme bei der Anlage von IOonplanta­
gen. Z. forstgenet. ForstpfZucht. 4:81-88.
LIBBY, W.S. 1969. Some possibilities of the clone in
forest genetics research. P. 121-136 in Genetics
Lectures, Vol I. R. Bogart, ed. Oregon St.ate
Univ. Press, Corvallis.
MARQUARD, R.D., and J.W. HANOVER. 1984. Sex­
ual zonation in the crown of Picea glauca and the
. Can. J.
ftowering response to exogenous G
For. Res. 14:27-30.
ROBINSON, J.F. 1979. Response to nitrate and am­
monium fertilizers-ftowers, cones and seed in a
loblolly pine seed·orchard. P. 166-170 in Proc.
15th Southern Forest 'tree Improvement Confer­
ence, Gulfport, MS.
Ross, S.D., R.P. PHARIS, and J.C. HEAM.AN. 1980.
Promotion of cone and seed production in
grafted and seedling Douglas-fir seed orchards
by application of gibberellin A.ti mixture. Can. J.
For. Res. 10:464-469.
TALBERT, J.T., R.J. WEIR, and R.D. ARNOLD.
1985. Costs and benefits of a mature first-gener­
ation loblolly pine tree improvement program. J.
For. 83:162-166.
WEIR. R.J., and B.J. ZoBEL. 1977. Genetic gains
and economic considerations. P. 133-151 in Proc.
'Iree Improvement Short Course, N.C. State
University-Industry Cooperative Tree Improve­
ment Program, Raleigh, NC.
WRIGHT, J.W. 1976. Introduction to Forest Genet­
ics. Academic Press Inc., New York, NY. 467 p.
ZoBEL, B.J., and J. TALBERT. 1984. Applied For·
est 'free Improvement. John Wtley and Sons,
Inc., New York, NY. 505 p.
MARCH 1986
37