Cultivation Techniques of Betula alnoides

The paper introduces Betula alnoides Hamilt. in terms of its speciality of growth, utilization, distribution zones, and cultivation technlques. The species is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical area of Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Thailand, India as well as Yunnan, Hainan and southern Guangxi of China with characters of fast growth, enduring infertile soil condition. It is a suitable tree species for restoring degraded lands,reclaiming degraded forests.Specially,the wood of the species with good property is of high market value and usually used to make evneer and furniture. Over logging had led to depletion of natural resources of the species. The urgent thing to do is to develop its plantation for meeting the increasing demand of people and society. The key of developing the plantation lies in duly collection, conservation and,treatment of seeds. The potted seedlings are needed. The schedule is to seminate seeds in July or August, pot in October, and plant in March or April of next year when the seedlings reacn the height of 20～30 cm? In nursery,watering and fertilizer application should be attended. Generally, planting season is from March to April, but it is possible from July to August for districts with clear dry and wet season. There are two manners of site preparation, one is to make strip line, the other is to dig holes (50 cm×50 cm×40 cm). Planting is followed by application of base fertilizer with spacing of 2 m×3 m or 3 m×3 m. Tending is needed in the coming three years after planting, and the first thinning is suggested in 6 to 8 years.