FOllEST SERVICE. 513 



the Monument Nursery it was found that the use of dry soil on the 

 surface of the beds and frequent cultivation reduced the loss from 

 damping off. At the Halsey Nursery a system of chemical treatment 

 to combat the disease is being worked out. AVliile seed beds must be 

 regularly sprinkled until germination is complete, indications are 

 that the less water applied after that time the hardier will be the 

 trees. Withholding water from seedlings may result in some loss in 

 the beds, but the ultimate success in the field will more than balance 

 this. 



Experiments with different sites for reforestation point to the con- 

 clusion that sowing and planting should, as far as possible, be con- 

 fined to the cool, relatively moist north or east slopes, until planting 

 methods are better developed and the conditions affecting young seed- 

 lings more thoroughly understood. 



A test of seed-spot sowing of western yellow pine, begun at the Fre- 

 mont Experiment Station in 1911, showed the lightest covering of 

 soil, one-fourth inch, to induce the greatest germination and survival. 

 The percentage of survival alone, however, was somewhat greater 

 with a one-half-inch covering. 



Very promising results were obtained from sowing and planting 

 maritime pine and cork oak on the Florida National Forest and at 

 the Clemson Coast Experiment Station at Summerville, S. C. On 

 the Florida Forest 7 acres sown to maritime pine in March, 1911, now 

 bear a dense stand from 1 to 2 feet high. The cork oak, sown in the 

 spring of 1911, has also done exceedingly well. These results clearly 

 indicate the suitability of the two species to the climate and soil of 

 the Southeastern States. 



Good results in reforesting with introduced species were had with 

 yellow pine, jack pine, and Scotch pine on the Nebraska National 

 Forest, and with yellow pine on the Kansas National Forest, while 

 lodgepole pine has been successfully introduced into the Pikes Peak 

 region. Experiments are now under way with Austrian pine and 

 Norway pine on the Nebraska, and with red cedar, jack pine, and 

 Austrian pine on the Kansas Forest. Of the hardwoods so far tried, 

 green ash and cottonwood are the most hardy. Honey locust seems 

 more promising than black locust, osage orange, or walnut. 



The vast brush fields on a number of the national forests of north- 

 em California, totaling roughly 1,500,000 acres, and the extensive 

 bear clover or tar-weed areas of the central and southern Sierras, 

 both largely the result of repeated forest fires, were studied during 

 the year to determine the possibility of their reforestation. Other 

 studies had in view the protection of planted areas from rodents 

 and the development of methods to reduce the cost of planting. 



The trend oi experiments in forest management was toward de- 

 termining the best silvicultural svstems and degrees of cutting: to 

 secure natural reproduction, problems of the greatest importance in 

 timber sales. These studies are carried on by means of permanent 

 sample plots on which all the trees are carefully measured and re- 

 corded. The timber is cut under different silvicultural systems, or 

 thinnings or improvement cuttings are made. An exact record is 

 kept of the amount of timber removed and of the size and distribu- 

 tion of the remaining trees. Measurements taken at regular inter- 

 vals will show the |)recise effect of the method used on each plot. 

 A number of experimental cuttings and thinnings have already been 



70481°— AGR 1912 33 



