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[Quietust]

That may be true on the surface, but it's definitely not the case underground - in fact, it's common for shrubs or saplings to sprout on top of existing trees, destroying the existing tree in the process (and generating a strange job cancellation message if it was a sapling that appeared).

[Mohreb el Yasim]

10x10 is awfully small for a tree farm, even one that's just for Science.  I'd suggest 20x20.

Even 20x20 is tiny - if you're going to make a tree farm, go for broke and make it at least 50x50, preferably multiple Z-levels tall.

And he was talking about letting it for years and counting them, so why should he go for bigger? if it has a big difference we will see if not, well more tests awaits, but i completly understand that someone don't wan't to count on 2500 squeres ...

[Rex Tyrannus]

10x10 is awfully small for a tree farm, even one that's just for Science.  I'd suggest 20x20.

Even 20x20 is tiny - if you're going to make a tree farm, go for broke and make it at least 50x50, preferably multiple Z-levels tall.

And he was talking about letting it for years and counting them, so why should he go for bigger? if it has a big difference we will see if not, well more tests awaits, but i completly understand that someone don't wan't to count on 2500 squeres ...

You don't count the squares. Count the logs. 50 x 50. Have a trained bookkeeper. Have a large wood pile nearby. Every spring, clearcut the patch. Every autumn, record the logs count in the z stocks screen.

Since it's SCIENCE, you can make a point of only chopping those trees and never using wood. Results should be indicative of the true game mechanic and the larger the area, the more statistically relevant the SCIENCE.

[yggiz]

If you have traffic in your farms, designate restricted traffic on the saplings you dont want trampled dead. I usually only do this once a year for the baby nether-caps and baby blood thorns. I will usually clear cut all the other varieties, and don't mind if I lose some potential growth on those others to dwarves stomping around. Nether-caps are pure awesome (beds for my nobles, those cold hearted bastards), and I think the blood thorns give a very dense, heavy log.

I loved tree farming in 2D, and I love it even more now, with all the variety.

[Cal]

Real-Life caught up to me this week and I wasn't able to do my testing. I think a 20x20 square would be better though. My plan was to make a wood stockpile the same size as the tree farm, that will make it easier for me to count how many logs get harvested but Rex had a good idea. Just make sure I have 0 before I harvest and have my bookkeeper count them for me. I'll work on the SCIENCE! this weekend.

Also, I use what wood I have the start temporarily and make a farm as soon as possible. My dwarves will not sleep in bed made from above ground wood, it smells like elves!

[Cal]

Here are my results so far:
2 20x20 spaces, one muddied, one not. Began digging spaces on the first day of spring. Digging and flooding were finished on 2 Slate (2nd day of 2nd month of Spring). I kept an eye on the spaces but didn't do any counting until I reached the next Spring. After 1 year, the muddied area had 4 adult trees and the dry area had 3 adults. After 2 years, the muddied area had 13 adult trees while the dry area had 8.

It isn't progressing that fast because I'm running this test in an unused area of a current fort so it isn't blazing along at 300fps but I am at about 120fps so the years pass fairly quickly. I'm surprised how many more trees the muddied area had after the 2nd year.

Update: Year 3, 14 adults in muddied area, 9 in dry. Year 4, 15 adults in muddied area, 9 in dry.

[Demonic Spoon]

These results seem pretty conclusive, excellent.