Of the many million seeds dropped on every acre of the Earth’s surface each year, less than 5 percent will begin to grow. Of those, only 5 percent will survive to their first birthday. Given these realities, the first and foremost experiment in each tree research study—growing a sapling—is actually an ill-omened fight with near-certain failure. Thus the initial planting of seedlings at the start of a forestry study represents a weary victory won by a stoic researcher with a strong sense of fatalism.
