512 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FOREST INVESTIGATIONS. 



Experimental studies Avere conducted in connection with the five 

 important problems of reforestation, management, forest influences, 

 protection, and mensuration. Besides forming a scientific basis for 

 national forest management, the results of these investigations supply 

 the knowledge necessary for the application of the principles of for- 

 estry to private timberlands throughout the West. Most of the inves- 

 tigative work was done at the experiment headquarters now estab- 

 lished at various points on the forests. Each such station gives chief 

 attention to the problems most typical of and most urgent in the 

 district in which it is located. Thus tlie management and repro- 

 duction of western white pine and larch forests are being studied at 

 the Priest River Station, in district 1; of the Douglas fir, lodgepole 

 pine, and Engelmann spruce forests at the Fremont Station, in dis- 

 trict 2 ; of the western yellows-pine forests at the Fort Valley Station, 

 in district 3 ; and of the sugar and yellow pine forests at the Feather 

 River Station, in district 5. The latter station and the Priest River 

 Station were established during the year. Facilities for the study of 

 problems relating to the national forests in Minnesota and Michigan 

 were secured by cooperation with the University of Minnesota in 

 the establishment of a station at Cloquet, Minn. A fourth new sta- 

 tion, the Utah, was established on the Manti National Forest after 

 the close of the fiscal year. 



During the year reforestation was the problem given first attention, 

 the greater number of experiments having to do with seed extraction, 

 nursery practice, and methods and seasons of sow^ing and planting. 



Considerable progress was made in developing methods of extract- 

 ing seed from the cones of both eastern and western species, and much 

 valuable information obtained on the largest amount of seed that 

 may be extracted from cones of different species per unit of time at 

 different degrees of temperature, the maximum temperature which 

 may be applied to seeds of different species without impairing their 

 vitality, the germinating power of seed extracted at various tempera- 

 tures, the comparative length of time required for germination of 

 seed extracted with and without artificial heat, and the most eco- 

 nomical type of extracting plant. 



The source from which seed is collected was found to be of great 

 importance. In general, the best results would be secured if seed 

 produced locally could always be used in reforestation work. 



As fast as the experiment stations were able to handle the testing of 

 seed this work was transferred to them. During the year districts 

 1, 2, 4, and 6 carried on their own tests. The advantage is in having 

 results available when needed, in developing methods of test which 

 answer the particular needs of the district, and in furnishing activi- 

 ties for the experiment stations in winter, when other work is slack. 



From the experiments in nursery practice much valuable informa- 

 tion was secured as to the depth to which seed should be covered, the 

 most efficient fertilizers for transjDlant and seed beds, the prevention 

 of damping off of young seedlings, and the watering of plants in the - 

 nursery. It was shown conclusively that in all nursery work sowing 

 at a depth greater than one-fourth inch is not advisable. Leaf com- 

 post and manure were found to be better than commercial fertilizers 

 for transplant beds, while for saed beds the opposite was true. At 



