610 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



tending the nursery away from habitations ; length of time to grow suf- 

 ficiently stout plants ; four years in transplant bed instead of two ; 

 greater expense ; lack of suitable nursery ground ; difficulty of transport 

 and of planting itself in the difficult situations ; expense of planting 

 ($50 to $60 and even $80 per acre) . 



To reduce these difficulties the use of seedlings untransplanted, as 

 practiced in the French Alps, was suggested, but rarely done. A num- 

 ber of such successful plantations is cited. But now the author advo- 

 cates the use of seeding in situ, especially on grassy areas! 



The use of seeding, which no practitioner thinks of now, was in 

 olden times the common practice in reforesting, and a few stands se- 

 cured in that w-ay can still be seen in lower altitudes ; but the author does 

 not see any reason why it should not be successfully done in higher ele- 

 vations, since Nature sows up to timberline, especially in grassy situa- 

 tions, the grass acting as a protection against heaving, snow pressure, 

 eroding of soil, heating and drying, the dangers invited by sowing in 

 bare soil. The fears that the grass would overgrow and suppress the 

 seedlings is unwarranted. Professor Engler agrees to the favorable 

 influence of grass cover in alpine situations. The woody plants finish 

 their height growth before the damaging influence of the grass makes 

 itself felt. 



A few trial sowings were started in 1908 and with success; larger 

 sowdngs were attempted, until in 191 6 over 800 pounds of seed had been 

 used in one district alone, a few trials being made in other districts. 



The main point in the procedure is to disturb the grass cover as 

 little as possible ; even an opening as large as a hand is of the evil. 

 What the author calls a pinch sowing (Prisensaat) consists in making 

 a narrow rill of finger length by means of a small two-tined rake and 

 introducing a small pinch of seed. The more hidden in the grass this 

 rill the more perfect the result. For larger seed a hole may be made 

 horizontally with a dibble, into which with a small spoon introducing 

 the seed, closing the hole with the foot. If longer rills are made, they 

 should follow the steepest grade as protection against the "creeping 

 snow." 



Judging from a given case. 2.5 pounds of seed per acre, producing, 

 if only 2 per cent come up, 4,000 plants per acre, are sufficient, costing, 

 say. $2 per acre. 



Objections to this method are slow and circumstantial execution and 

 too many plants in bunches. Hence it is proposed to use broadcast 

 seeding, best done in the fall, and since, then, often the new seed crop 



