THE PROTECTION OF SEEDING AND PLANTING SITES 183 



Thoroughly spraying the trees immediately after planting and 

 after each heavy rain with the following poison is usually effective 

 in reducing the damage when rabbits are numerous: 



Strychnine 4 oz. 



Saccharin i lb. 



Water 10 gals. 



The trees may be coated with various repellants, i.e., materials 

 which are distasteful to rabbits and which prevent them from 

 feeding upon all parts thoroughly coated with the obnoxious 

 material. An effective repellant is one that resists washing off 

 by rain and that can be applied in the form of a spray. Because 

 of its bitter taste, commercial aloes, at the rate of 1 pound to 4 

 gallons of water, when sprayed on trees will repel rabbits. The 

 common lime and sulphur spray used against scale insects is re- 

 ported by Cunningham as an excellent rabbit repellant. 



4. PROTECTION FROM FIRE 



The cost of successful regeneration by either direct seeding or 

 planting is such that it should never be undertaken until adequate 

 provision has been made to protect it from fire. The seeding or 

 planting of small areas surrounded by cultivated fields can be done 

 without seriously considering the fire problem, because of the 

 protection afforded by the surroundings. In the regeneration of 

 larger areas, however, and particularly those surrounded by wood- 

 land, the fire problem should be solved before the seeding or plant- 

 ing is begun. The fire hazard is so' great in most parts of the 

 United States that the lack of foresight often results in the total 

 loss of the young stand. 



Fires that occur on areas recently seeded or planted are surface 

 fires. They burn the surface layer of dry leaves and other litter, 

 herbage and shrubs. Although fires of this character do the least 

 amount of damage in a stand beyond the pole stage, they are 

 always fatal to a young stand. Because of the open character of 

 the site on which seeding and planting is usually done, the in- 

 flammable material is usually grass. The hazardous season, there- 

 fore, is after the grass dries in the autumn until the new growth 

 starts in the spring. A grass fire that runs uniformly over the 

 ground is nearly always of sufficient intensity to completely de- 

 stroy a young plantation up to the time that the canopy closes. 



