42 JOIRXAL OF l-ORI-;STRY 



Shade appears to be its worst enemy and about the only thing that is 

 able to kill it out. Cattle and sheep will not eat it, and tire only serves 

 to spread it by removing competition, exposing the mineral soil, and 

 stimulating sprouting. In fact, the extensive bear-clover areas today 

 are largely the result of repeated surface- fires. 



As a fire menace, bear clover is one of the worst types of cover with 

 which the fire-fighter has to deal. While it is not particularly inflam- 

 mable itself, it burns fiercely, owing to the deep accumulation of litter 

 which it fosters, and fires in it consume the young reproductions in their 

 path and do serious damage to the butts of mature trees. It is only 

 with the greatest difiiculty, also, that fires in it can be controlled, the 

 tangle of stems and roots making the building of fire lines through it 

 an exceedingly slow and laborious undertaking. 



Bear clover undoubtedly has some value as a ground cover in pre- 

 venting erosion, but as a conserver of moisture it is a grave question 

 whether the protection oft"ered is not more than offset by the amount 

 of moisture transpired and the amount of precipitation prevented from 

 reaching the ground. 



Once established, bear clover has things pretty much its own way, 

 for few species are able to gain a foothold in it, owing to the density 

 of the cover, the depth of the litter it accumulates, the competition for 

 moisture, and the frequency and intensity of the fires that prevail. Of 

 the tree species, incense cedar seems best able to cope with it, and in 

 places where fires have been kept out cedar has been observed to be 

 gradually shading it out. Deer brush {Ccanothus integerimus) also 

 has been known to displace it where it had an even start and has been 

 protected from fire and grazing ; but without adequate protection, no 

 species, either tree or forage plant, has a show in competition with 

 bear clover. 



The results of observations made on the Eldorado and Stanislaus 

 National Forests in 1912 by Forest Examiners George W. Lyons and 

 J. V. Wulfif and on 20 sample plots are summarized in Table i. 



While not absolutely conclusive, the figures in Table i indicate that 

 in general reproduction on a given site is adversely affected by a 

 ground cover of bear clover ; also, that, as stated, the relative percent- 

 age of incense-cedar reproduction increases, while the per cent of pine 

 reproduction falls off' as the density of the bear-clover cover increases. 

 In the densest stand it will be noted that reproduction of all species 

 has been completely excluded. 



Considering the acreage involved, estimated at 18,000 acres on the 



