Progress of the U. S. Forest Service. 403 



1. Protection against pollution of streams. 



2. Prevention of insect depredations. 



3. Control of forest-tree diseases. 



Reforestation. 



It is estimated that there are 7,500,000 acres on the National 

 Forests which must be reforested by artificial means. In ad- 

 dition to this, the natural regeneration on 1,000,000 acres cut over 

 annually by timber sales must be taken care of. 



A great deal of the work of reforestation is still in the ex- 

 perimental stage, and hence in many sections of the country, 

 extensive and expensive plantations are not yet justifiable — dis- 

 trict 3 and district 5 are examples of this. 



In 1912, the following tentative distribution among the dis- 

 tricts of the area to be reforested annually was agreed upon : — 



District Acreage 



1 9000 



2 6000 



3 500 



4 6000 



5 500 



6 9000 



Direct seeding, under which the tree seed, is sown upon the 

 ground with or without simple forms of cultivation, and the 

 growing of seedlings' in nurseries under ideal conditions to be 

 transported into the field when of suitable size — these are the 

 two general methods used in reforestation work in the Forest 

 Service. 



In the matter of direct seeding, three problems are con- 

 fronted, i. e. : I. Seed supply. 2. Rodent injury. 3. Cheap culti- 

 vation. 



In 1913, the reforestation work covered approximately 30,000 

 acres. About 24,000 acres was sown at an average cost of $4 per 

 acre — 6000 acres planted at $1 1 per acre. 



Most of the seed used was collected by Forest officers. In 1913, 

 40,000 lbs. of coniferous seed was collected at an average cost of 

 $.78 per lb. 



The nursery stock used was obtained from the various forest 

 nurseries on the National Forests. The cost of seedlings in 1913 



