1969 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 6-11
In the preceding reports, it was stated that cotyledon number, height, needle number, root length, dry weight of Saghalien fir seedlings from 7 provenances (Hiyama, Shintoku, Kiyosato, Hidaka, Sapporo, Nemuro and Rishiri) in Hokkaido were measured, and the results of the study on the differences among the provenances and mother trees showed that Saghalien fir seedlings from west Hokkaido were larger than those from east Hokkaido, and it was pointed out that the seedlings from Hiyama grew best and were remarkably different from other provenances' seedlings, and also that there were differences in growth and other characters among the seedlings from individual trees in the same provenances.
This is to report on the investigation starting in 1966 following the preceding ones.
When Saghalien fir seedlings were first transplanted, we sampled at random the seedlings from each plot and set up test plots for analysis of the variation among provenances and mother trees by the method of split plot. Namely the randomized block design with 4 replications was used. One block consisted of seedlings from 4 provenances including 117 mother trees and by mixed seeds of mother trees in 3 provenances (Figure 1). One plot for test of individuality of mother trees included 64 seedlings per m2 and that for test of provenance only by mixed seeds of mother trees included 768 seedlings in 12 m2.
The height and the frequency of occurrence of secondary shoots of the seedlings were measured in September, 1967, and analysis of variance was made on these data.
It was found that the height and frequency of occurrence of secondary shoots for 4 provenances (Hiyama, Shintoku, Kiyosato and Hidaka) that were composed of the seedlings from individual trees were significantly different at one percent level.
It was shown that the F value in the height of seedlings among provenances was very large and reached more than treble the F value in the height of seedlings among individual trees, and that the F value in frequency of occurrence of secondary shoots of seedlings among individual trees was much larger than that among provenances.
Analysis of variance was made in order to study the variation among 7 provenances, the 4 provenances plus 3 provenances of Sapporo, Nemuro and Rishiri. Namely the seedlings from the latter provenances consisted of those from the mixed seeds of individual trees. In addition, partition of the sum of squares for height and frequency of occurrence of secondary shoots was made.
As the result of the analysis, it was observed that there was statistically significant difference in silvic characters between the two regions (the west and the east Hokkaido, particularly Hiyama and Nemuro) and among the provenances in each region.
