The place of fertilisers in forestry

Abstract Apart from their regular use in forest nurseries and on certain nutrient‐deficient sites at the time of planting or to rejuvenate plantations that have checked, fertilisers are at present very little used in forestry, mainly because of lack of knowledge of the magnitude and persistence of responses that may be expected under given conditions. The literature records many instances of responses to different fertilisers, applied mainly at the time of planting, phosphate being the most frequently effective nutrient, though in certain circumstances N, K and Ca have also produced worthwhile responses. Classical work on liming in older conifer forests in Germany is mentioned, and recent work on nitrogen is discussed, with particular reference to the need for discovering a slow‐acting form which will produce lasting effects. Much research is needed to determine conditions for economic growth responses to fertiliser applications, and it is stressed that the physical and biological factors affecting tree nutrition must be studied in addition to the purely chemical factors.

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