REFORESTATION ON THE PIKE NATIONAL FOREST 631 



tributary of the South Fork of the South Platte River, and tlie lands adjacent 

 thereto are necessarily a part of the watershed of the city of Denver. 



The seed used in this work was gathered by the men on several national 

 forests in the state of Colorado. While results cannot be fully reported as 

 yet, it is believed that they will be fairly good. 



Of the various methods used in sowing the seed on this area, what is 

 known as the drill or furrow method has given the best results. A furrow is 

 made along the contour of the slope with a hoe-like Instrument specially 

 constructed for this pur})ose. By dragging it along the ground, a furrow is 

 made several inches deep. A planter with a bag of seed and a rake follows 

 the man with the furrow maker, and drops seed into the furrow at intervals 

 of about one inch and then rakes the soil over the seed. 



During the fall of 1910, an area comprising some 144 acres on the north- 

 eastern slope of Pike's I'eak, near the Halfway House, on the Pike's Peak cog 

 road, was sown to Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, and yellow pine seed, 

 various methods being employed. Owing to the lateness of the season when 

 this work was done, results cannot be accurately given as yet. 



During the winter of 1910-1911, the officers of this forest were informed 

 that it was the desire of the district forester that extensive experimental work 

 be done along the line of sowing yellow pine seed on the snow, especially on 

 the watersheds. Some 3,000 pounds of yellow pine seed, which had been 

 gathered by the men of the national forests in Colorado, Wyoming, and South 

 Dakota, were allotted for this work, and an expert was sent out to make a 

 reconnaissance and select suitable acres on which to do the sowing. During 

 the month of February, 1,150 acres of land were sown to this yellow pine seed 

 in different parts of the forest. About 900 acres of the total area are located 

 on the watersheds of the North and South Forks of the South Platte River, 

 from which the city of Denver obtains its water supply. The remainder of 

 the sowing area is located on the watershed of Fountain Creek, from which a 

 part of the domestic and municipal supply of Colorado Springs is obtained. 



It was considered that the most favorable time to sow this seed was during 

 a snow storm, and consequently the forest rangers in charge of the different 

 districts in which the sowing was to be done awaited the time when the ideal 

 conditions existed, when they took up the work of sowing the two to three 

 hundred acres on their districts. It was no ea.sy task to sow on steep, rocky 

 slopes with the thermometer registering from ten to twenty degrees below 

 zero and with the snow falling. Some of the rangers were fortunate enough 

 to have areas which permitted of their sowing the seed from horseback. This 

 method is believed to be really more effective than sowing on foot, because the 

 seed, being thrown from a considerable height, sink deeper in the snow. 



The method of sowing seed by broadcasting in the snow and on unprepared 

 ground, appeals very strongly to the forest officers who realize the magnitude 

 of the task before them, by coming in daily contact with the vast areas which it 

 is their duty to clothe with a good stand of timber. These men realize that 

 they will not see their efforts result in a merchantable stand of timber, but they 

 do know that if they can get a six to eight-inch growth yearly, on the plants 

 which they are now setting out, they will have the satisfaction of seeing this 

 same young growth holding the snow and thereby conserving the water 

 supply. It is this knowledge that encourages the men to put forth their best 

 efforts to successfully accomplish the important task before them. 



