30 KEFOBESTATION ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



The first successful work in direct seeding on a large scale was 

 done in 1905, at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, on the 

 Black Hills National Forest. Here approximately 28 acres were 

 broadcasted and 12 acres seeded with corn planters to western yellow 

 pine of the crop of 1903, from the Pecos National Forest, New 

 Mexico. The results were excellent, the best being upon areas where 

 corn planters had been used. The sowing was continued in the 

 Black Hills in 1906, 1907, and 1908, with Black Hills seed of the 

 crop of 1905. The results in 1906 were poor, in 1907 good, and in 

 1908 rather poor again. Additional sowing in 1908 with some old 

 western yellow-pine seed collected in Nebraska gave very poor re- 

 sults, as did other experiments that year with Douglas fir. In 1909 

 approximately 650 acres in the Black Hills were broadcasted with 

 local yellow-pine seed of the crop of 1908. The results were fair, 

 but by no means entirely satisfactory. In view of what has been 

 learned since, it seems probable that rodents were largely responsible 

 for these poor results, since the weather conditions that year appeared 

 perfect. It is probable that the success of the 1905 planting was 

 due to the fact that it was done on an extensive burn, where there was 

 no cover for rodents. Possibly the fact that plenty of seed was pro- 

 duced in the forest that year, furnishing the rodents an ample sup- 

 ply of food, had a direct bearing upon the success of the sowing. 

 Direct seeding has since been carried on in hundreds of different 

 places throughout the National Forests of the Rocky Mountain and 

 Pacific Coast States. In the calendar year 1910 approximately 14,000 

 acres were sown by this method. 



SELECTION OF THE SITE. 



In the work of direct seeding too great emphasis can not be laid 

 on the importance of selecting the right site for sowing. Large 

 burns without grass cover which are not restocking, or are coming 

 up to aspen, offer good sites for reforestation. Aspen lands and 

 natural brush lands, not chaparral, are also excellent. Parks, grassy 

 woodlands, alpine meadows, and sagebrush lands are less favorable. 

 Some species demand one situation, some another. Even the chemical 

 composition of the soil should be considered. Some- species, like 

 Douglas fir in the Rocky Mountains, prefer limestone formations, 

 while others, like yellow pine and lodgepole pine, prefer soils con- 

 taining little or no lime. In general, the seed of any species should 

 be sown in a place and under conditions as like as possible to the 

 site and conditions of its natural habitat. 



TIME OF YEAR FOR SEEDING. 



The time of year when seeding should be done varies with the 

 climate, and to a less degree with the species. The important thing 

 is to vary the time of sowing with climatic conditions, so that the 



