J.D. Irving, Limited is a forest products company with large forest land holdings in Eastern North America. The company has been active in tree improvement programs for many years for a number of conifer species. As well as using traditional seed orchards to produce improved seed, the company has also integrated vegetative propagation initially through rooted cuttings and then via somatic embryogenesis (SE), primarily of spruces. The objective of the SE program is to obtain tested varietal lines to be deployed in multi-varietal forestry plantations. Data are presented that show the genetic gain in height, diameter, and volume over that of the varietal test average at various selection intensities after a decade in a field test.

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