330 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XIX, No. 6, 



considerable areas will be a willow thicket, but present indica- 

 tions point in that direction. In 1915 seedlings of all sorts 

 were scarce, though many were starting at the time of our 

 arrival. But the following season it could be seen that, while 

 great numbers of them had been winter killed, many had 

 survived and were growing. Since the first winter would appear 

 to be the most critical period in the life of seedlings, and 

 especially since the winter of 1915-1916 was unusually severe 

 in its effects on vegetation at Kodiak, it is to be supposed that 

 these seedlings are the beginning of the new, permanent plant 

 covering of the country. 



SEEDLINGS ESPECIALLY IN WET PLACES. 



These new plants, especially the herbs, show certain peculiar- 

 ities of distribution which throw much light on the factors 

 retarding revegetation. Except the lupines, which are always 

 in well drained situations, the new seedlings show an evident 

 preference for wet places, or more correctly, for places which 

 bear evidence of water action. For they are not confined 

 to springy places, the edges of ponds and the like, but also 

 appear in numbers on some of the outwash deposits which are 

 not especially wet habitats. 



The readiest explanation of this preference would be that 

 the ash in general has insufficient moisture to meet the water 

 requirements of the plants. This might be expected, moreover, 

 from the fact that the ash is purely mineral and altogether 

 lacking in humus or similar water-holding substances, so that 

 it dries out rapidly, giving up any water in its pores as readily 

 as sand. Under ordinary climatic conditions this would probably 

 be an important factor, but those who are familiar with this 

 region will agree that it is difficult to imagine anything drying 

 up here, so constant is the rainfall. 



The season of 1915, in which occurred an unprecedented 

 drought, gave an exceptional opportunity, however, to test the 

 importance of this factor. Even at the close of the drought 

 the ground was everywhere visibly moist immediately beneath 

 the surface. To ascertain more definitely the exact situation, 

 soil moisture determinations were made in the field. These 

 were followed by determinations of the wilting coefficient, both 

 by the centrifugal machine through the kindness of Dr. H. L. 

 Shantz, and by tests of pot cultures under the writer's direction. 



