A Week in the Seed Orchard
June 24, 2013 12:06 pm Leave your thoughts
This past week I was working in the seed orchard, which is owned by 5 different companies, Weyerhaeuser being one of them. There are 5 different orchards, mostly used for genetic research. Some of the trees were seedlings while others were grafted with scions and root stock. There are numerous boxes throughout the orchard with slides that catch pollen, which are replaced every two days to determine the amount of pollen contamination from outside the orchard. We also walked through the orchard with a tablet making sure that each tree had an accurate identification tag, and collecting data for each permanent sample tree. Each of these trees needed an approximate count for male pollen, flowers, and cones, and this data is passed on to the orchard’s geneticist. In the younger orchards, we supported trees that weren’t standing straight with stakes to improve proper growth. On the last day, we randomly chose trees in each orchard to look for any insect or disease evidence and made note of their health status. We found some spruce budworms in some of the spruce trees and needle blight in some of the pines, for example. They also have two dogs running around the orchard, and the younger one would chase after our side-by vehicle whenever we took off! I found the concept behind the seed orchard quite interesting to learn about, and I’m glad I got the experience there.
Anyway, this upcoming week I’m working with silviculture maps and doing truck safety audits, which you’ll hear about in my next blog!
