PART II. DIRECT SEEDING. 



DIRECT SEEDING VERSUS PLANTING. 



Of the two methods of artificial reforestation direct seeding and 

 planting the first offers for certain species on many of the Na- 

 tional Forests by far the greater promise of success. By it the slow, 

 complicated, and expensive process of raising plants in a nursery 

 is eliminated. The seeding itself is a much more simple operation 

 than field planting and can be done with less experienced labor. 

 The seeding is limited mainly by the quantity and kind of seed avail- 

 able and its cost. In general, hardy trees, the seed of which is easily 

 and cheaply obtained, can be reproduced satisfactorily by direct 

 seeding, while species like red pine, which bear small crops of seed 

 that are difficult to collect even under the most favorable conditions, 

 can be reproduced more cheaply b}^ planting. 



In Russia reforestation by direct seeding has been practiced for 

 years. Over 65,000 acres a year are reforested artificially by this 

 method in the northern and northeastern Provinces. In India and in 

 southern France, also, direct seeding has been carried on extensively. 

 The maritime pine forests of southern France were established almost 

 entirely in this way. 



PAST WORK ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



Direct seeding was first tried on the National Forests in 1901, when 

 seed was broadcasted or dropped into holes made with a stick on the 

 San Bernardino Forest Eeserve, in California. The site selected 

 was in the dry foothills, and the experiment was, as might have been 

 expected, a total failure. In 1902 red cedar, western yellow pine, 

 jack pine, and blue spruce were sown on the snow in the Nebraska 

 National Forest, and in the spring of 1903 an area of 25 acres was 

 seeded to yellow pine. Corn planters were used, and the seed was 

 placed part in furrows and part in sod. Both of these experiments, 

 however, resulted in failure; few seedlings, except those of red cedar, 

 survived. In 1902 some direct seeding was done on the San Gabriel 

 National Forest, in California. The seed was of sumac, Rhus lau- 

 rina, and about 1,000 pounds were used. The seeding was done on a 

 rocky cliff, several hundred feet high, facing the east, below the 

 astronomical observatory on Mount Wilson, and was very successful. 



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