Direct seeding is not applied uniformly by province in western Canada. In British Columbia it is not considered as an acceptable reforestation technique, in Alberta it is the main method used and in Manitoba and Saskatchewan the method would seem to be used with some caution. A total of 129,897 acres have been direct seeded in the four western provinces of Canada since 1925 and 98% of this area was seeded between 1960 and 1971 inclusive. The Alberta Forest Service seeded 103,970 acres in this period. Hand seeding was common than aerial seeding in the past and will probably remain so in the future due to seed availability. Mainly white spruce and lodgepole pine seeds were used at a density of between 20,000 and 200,000 seeds per acre on burns, undisturbed forest floor and scarified ground. Mineral soil exposures between 1-55% have been obtained (10-20% most common) in scarification. The 80% plus failure rate in direct seeding projects since 1960 can be attributed to many factors some of which are (a) inadequate seed used, (b) wrong season of application, (c) insufficient seedbed preparation. (d) poor ground control in seeding operations when more than 25% mineral soil exposure was obtained, and (e) heavy competition from grasses and herbs and losses to rodents. In spite of the poor success in the past, the direct seeding method will be used even more extensively in Alberta in the years ahead because it has been proven that with better quality control over seeding and seedbed preparation, better results may be expected.
