Tubed tree seedlings production line
The photograph is courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye Forest District and staff at their Fort Augustus office.
View of polyhouse set up for the production of tubed seedlings most likely at Newton Nursery near Elgin. The two ladies are using an negative air pressure tool to hold individual seed against a row of spaced holes along a short bar. Lying idle is a similar tool but with short drilled teeth spaced along the bar. Seed could be picked up from a box and precisely dropped by pressing a valve into the rows of little split sided plastic tubes set up and filled with growing compost in seed trays. The seed species was usually Lodgepole pine or various broadleaves such as birch and alder and had the advantage of a short production period from sowing to dispatch out to the forest (late winter to early summer). The other advantages were the capacity to order additional stock at short notice and to plant them in the summer after normal bare root planting had ceased. The big disadvantage was the relatively small size of the tree out on the hill and its complete destruction when browsed by members of the grouse family, rabbits, hares and deer. The tubes were also prone to frost lift when on the peat furrows often completely out and lying on the surface following the winter period and also being completely inundated if weeds were a problem.
To the back right is a container set up to roll in a frame used to spread a sand layer over the whole tray and covering the seed in the tubes. Back left on the staging are trays with tree seedlings fairly well grown and about ready to go outside on special frames to be finished off – if pine at a height of 75mm and if birch more like 200mm.
Year or names have not been noted. Can the two ladies be named?
Any recollections in working with tubed seedlings would be very welcome.
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Groups: Forest Nurseries, Forest Research, Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Northeast Scotland
A.J.Low was the project leader late 60, s.
This polyhouse looks more like the one at Dornoch operating into the early seventies. J.Atterson was the enthusiastic D.O. at the time who was very interested in developing the production line facility. Many of these tublings went to Shin Forest in the early seventies into expts. which I was involved with and on to peat ploughed land in the Dalchork atea. The problems we encountered were as noted above, frost lift and it took too many plants to make a meal for predators. Comment left on 11 February 2017 at 19:06 by John Keenleyside