268 J. E. WEAVER 



sentative of many regions in the Great Basin, in answering the 

 questions as to what types of vegetation indicate conditions of 

 soil moisture favorable or unfavorable to dry fanning and 

 what tjrpes indicate the presence or absence of alkali salts in 

 quantities likely to injure cultivated crops. 



The studies of Shantz (20) in the Great Plains on the indicator 

 significance of natural vegetation in determining the capabiUties 

 of land for crop production are too w^ell known to need further 

 comment. Indeed it is one of the pioneer investigations where 

 ecological methods w^ere applied to solve an economic problem. 



Clements (4) made extensive use of quadrats in his study of 

 burns and reproduction in the lodgepole forests of the Rocky 

 Mountains, Sampson (18) has cited evidence of results accom- 

 plished in studying various forest types and makes it clear that 

 the quadrat method has a high value in forestry and is readily 

 applicable to wddely diversified investigations in that field. 

 Recently Hoffman (9) by employing a modification of the 

 quadrat method has cleared up a nmnber of important questions 

 regarding natural reproduction from seed stored in the forest 

 floor and has thrown new light on the w^hole question of natural 

 reproduction. 



In addition to these investigations, which have a direct eco- 

 nomic bearing, numerous others should be mentioned which are 

 important since they represent rather complete studies in 

 different vegetational regions and are undoubtedly more accurate 

 because of the employment of the quadrat method. Such in- 

 vestigations are those of Cooper (7) in the forests of Michigan, 

 Pool (14) in the sandhills of Nebraska, Bergman and Stallard (1) 

 in the forests and bogs of Minnesota, Gleason (8) in the prairies 

 and forests of the inland sand deposits of Illinois, Weaver (22, 

 23) in the grasslands and forests of Washington and Idaho, and 

 others. 



Students of ecology, at least those somewhat advanced, should 

 become acquainted with such investigations not only as a matter 

 of general information, but also to learn the methods of attack 

 and the solution of problems in ecology. But in order to appre- 

 ciate such studies, a firsthand knowledge of quadrating is 



