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A Tree Improvement Program For Southern Hardwoods

The hardwood genetics program started by the North Carolina State University-Industrial Cooperative Hardwood Research Program- has undergone changes which have produced groups of selected trees with different levels of improvement. The time has come to integrate the groups into a comprehensive improvement program. Only a few organizations are establishing greater than 800 hectares of hardwood plantations annually. The best option for an improvement program with limited interest is to rely upon an openpollinated breeding scheme. The breeding p opulation within each breeding region will be subdivided into 10 to 15 subgroups. Each subgroup's planting will be designed to improve the chances for cross-pollination between families within the subgroup. Open-pollinated progeny from the best individuals in these plantings will be used for the next generation's breeding population. Clonal seed orchards will be established, using the best trees from each subgroup within a region. Accompanying the seed orchard program will be an experimental vegetative propagation program with anticipation that vegetative popagules will eventually supplement or replace seedlings in reforestation.


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Author(s): R. C. Purnell, Robert C. Kellison

Publication: Tree Improvement and Genetics - Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference - 1983