FORKSTATIOX PRACTICIC IX X()K\V.\>- 03 



hold fire for weeks and are liable to set tlie surrounding country on fire 

 when conditions are favorable, so brush and debris should, if possible, 

 be piled away from them. Large cut-over tracts are first subdivided 

 into blocks by fire-breaks. 



The cost of burning is 5 to 10 krona per ha. A crew of 12 to 15 

 men can, under favorable conditions, burn two clearings of 10 ha. each 

 in 12 hours. Sowing is done in the spring immediately following the 

 burning. 



Sowing 



Sowing is done in spring ; in dry seasons and on dry sites as early as 

 the soil can be worked ; in wet springs and frosty sites somewhat later. 



Broadcasting. — Broadcasting is done on burned and loosened soil 

 and on ditched marshes. On a given area with living seed trees at the 

 edge broadcasting is confined to the center, and natural regeneration is 

 depended upon to stock up the border. In general, pine is the best 

 species to sow, 0.5 kg. per ha. of 85 per cent seed being used. "Every 

 hectogram of seed is mixed with a liter of dry sand or sawdust, and 

 one liter of this mixture on every one-fifth hectar of marsh, with a 

 hand-sowing apparatus- — /. c, a sow-fiddle." The strip sown thus is 

 about 3 to 4 meters broad, and a liter of the mixture should cover a 

 strip 500 to 650 m. long. One man should sow 3 to 4 ha. per day. 



Solving in Stretches. — A "stretch" is ordinarily 5 by 50 cm. in ex- 

 tent, and made with a claw-hoe or mattock, by hoeing up the soil to a 

 depth of 10 to 15 cm. and mixing refined humus or ashes into the min- 

 eral soil. On level ground these stretches are laid out in a northwest- 

 southeast direction, as a protection against the afterno(Mi sun. On 

 slopes they are arranged along the contours to prevent the seed being 

 washed away. Narrow strips like this are advised where frost-heaving 

 is feared ; also where cattle are apt to trample. The latter are attracted 

 by the soft earth and prefer to walk in the stretches when they are 

 made wide enough. However, a width of 5 cm. is too narrow to per- 

 mit this. On steep slopes the seeds wash less in narrow stretches. The 

 width may be increased to 10 cm. on level ground where frost-heaving, 

 cattle trampling, and washing are not feared. On sites where frost is 

 especially active, the stretch is made as small as possible, only 20 to 25 

 cm. long, very little, if any, soil-loosening being done, and it is sown 

 with around 60 to 75 of 85 per cent seeds per stretch, or rather heavily, 

 since the resulting denser root growth helps bind the soil. Under ordi- 

 nary conditions, where 5 by 50 cm. stretches are used, 25 seeds of 85 

 per cent grade is a common number to sow per unit. Sowing is done 



