32 REFORESTATION ON THE NATIONAL, FORESTS. 



difficult to start them. Where the danger of loss during the winter, 

 however, is especially great, spring sowing may be tried. Red and 

 black oak sprout only in the spring, but since they are bitter and 

 in consequence are little molested by rodents, can be planted in safety 

 in the fall. 



In general, tree seed should be sown immediately preceding or at 

 the beginning of the characteristic period of precipitation in the 

 region. Exception to this rule may be necessary on account of local 

 climatic conditions, peculiarities of certain tree species, or local 

 abundance of rodents. 



BROADCASTING. 



Under favorable conditions tree seed may be scattered on unpre- 

 pared ground with a fair prospect of success, though in most cases 

 some preparation of the ground is necessary. In deciding upon the 

 best method of preparing the ground for sowing, the surface, slope, 

 and character of the ground cover, as well as the species to be sown, 

 must be considered. Some of the methods used with good results 

 are burning, harrowing with an ordinary spring-tooth or disk har- 

 row, dragging tree tops or stumps over the ground, and plowing. 

 An area thoroughly trampled by sheep, or which has been used as a 

 sheep driveway, the soil of which is naturally loose, is usually in good 

 condition for sowing. Certain tracts on the National Forests, each 

 with a different kind of soil, are being purposely overgrazed in order 

 to prepare the ground for the reception of seed. 



Broadcast sowing may be expected to be successful where the soil 

 is loose and moist at the surface, where some protection is afforded to 

 seedlings against heat and drought, and where rodents can be con- 

 trolled. Since rodents are much more numerous on the edge of green 

 timber than in the open, sowing, to be most successful, should be a 

 half a mile or more from the thickest growth. Burned areas covered 

 with down timber, aspen, or brush of not too dense a character, but 

 without much leaf litter, offer good sites for broadcast sowing without 

 preparing the ground or covering the seed. As a matter of fact, 

 harrowing or otherwise wounding the soil preparatory to broadcast- 

 ing is almost impossible on mountain sides covered with a mass of 

 down timber. On areas broadcasted seedlings are likely to come up 

 in groups, due to erosion and to destruction by rodents. In sowing 

 broadcast the seed should be weighed out with care, and one-half of 

 the amount sown over the whole area. The sower should then travel 

 back and forth at right angles to his previous course and sow the 

 other half. In this way a more even distribution of the seed is 

 assured. It is much more difficult to sow evenly 2 quarts of small 

 tree seed than 2 bushels of corn. Large or medium-sized seed, such 

 as that of yellow pine or Douglas fir, can be sown by hand, while 



