DIRECT SEEDING. 47 



with a clay subsoil. Douglas fir and lodgepole pine in equal quanti- 

 ties were the species sown. The sowing was done on July 7, 1909, 

 by the seed-spot method, with the spots prepared by raking and 

 spaced 5 by 5 feet apart. The ground cover, aside from the aspen, 

 consisted of a moderately dense growth of weeds. At the time the 

 sowing was done the area was fairly moist. On September 28, 1909, 

 inspection showed that there were from 5 to 20 seedlings on prac- 

 tically every spot, all in good condition. No poison was used, since 

 the tract is some distance from heavy timber, and the seed in only 

 six or eight spots had been eaten by mice or chipmunks. 



BrrTEKROOT NATIONAL FOREST, MONTANA. 



The area seeded on the Forest consisted of logged-over land, for- 

 merly bearing a stand of yellow pine on the knolls and Douglas fir 

 and grand fir and Engelmann spruce in three gulches, which were 

 prominent features of the sowing area. Skidding out the logs had 

 left the soil well broken, especially in the bottoms. The object in 

 sowing this area was to ascertain whether broadcast sowing would 

 give practical results, if done directly after logging operations. 

 White pine and Engelmann spruce seed were sown in mixture on the 

 area in October, 1909. It had been the intention to sow as much as 

 possible on the area by means of corn planters, but the brush and 

 duff on the ground prevented their use, and it was therefore necessary 

 to broadcast. Three and two-fifths pounds of seed were used to the 

 acre, about four-fifths of which was white pine and one-fifth Engel- 

 mann spruce. Inspection of the tract in July and October, 1910, 

 showed large numbers of thrifty trees. The spruce had done better 

 than the white pine, especially in moist situations where the soil had 

 been protected by brush, logs, etc. On some of these areas an average 

 of 12 spruce seedlings per square foot was found. White-pine seed- 

 lings were scattered over the area, but were most numerous on the 

 higher land. The fact that these white-pine seedlings were living 

 and thrifty in October, after one of the driest summers in years, is 

 significant of the possibilities for direct seeding in similar situations. 



WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST, COLORADO. 



On May 8, 1908, a tract within the White Kiver National Forest, 

 having a northern exposure, and at an altitude of about 8,100 feet, 

 was sown to Engelmann spruce and lodgepole pine at the rate of 1 

 pound of the former and 1J pounds of the latter per acre. The soil 

 was a moist, mineralized clay overlying sandstone. The ground 

 cover was made up of buck brush and bunch grass, with some ashes 

 and humus. The fire which destroyed the original timber occurred 

 about 35 years ago. 



