Skip to main content
Contact Us

This summary was written in 1998 and serves as an introduction to the first 50 years of tree improvement in Britain.

A summary of the developments and achievements in tree improvement in Britain during the first 50 years, providing an illustration of:

  • The growth of the enterprise
  • The lessons learned and the modifications to methods and techniques which have sprung from this
  • The widening of the field of genetic investigation as more sophisticated techniques have been developed
  • The achievements which have been made over half a century.

Although the summary has been divided into major subject areas, a chronological approach is retained:

Note: There have been a number of changes of nomenclature and location within Forestry Commission and Forest Research during the period of this review.

What’s of interest

These pages review the work performed by the Forestry Commission and Forest Research on tree improvement following the 50th anniversary of its establishment which passed in 1998. The genetic background describes the scientific procedures of tree breeding and the technical terms used in the remaining pages. All species are referred to by their common name in English.

Tree improvement
In this section
Tree improvement