REFORESTING BURNS IN CALIFORNIA 

 NATIONAL FORESTS 



CLMOST every one in California has heard or read about the devastating 

 forest fires of last summer, but how many have heard of the efforts 

 made by the Secretary of Agriculture to reforest these burns with 

 valuable trees? Yet, hardly had the fires been put out and scarcely had the 

 ashes cooled off, when tree planting was begun. Plans for this work were 

 being made even while the fires were still burning. 



A statement recently made by the District Forester in charge of the 

 national forests in California shows that during the year 1910 the Forest 

 Service planted or sowed a total of 2302 acres of land in this State. Of this 

 area 282 acres was planted with 244,581 young trees, while the remainder was 

 sowed with G274 pounds of tree seed, mostly pine. 



The 2.302 acres reforested last year is a small area compared with the 

 total forest burned over, but when one considers the rough country covered, 

 the lack of facilities for transportation, and the difficulty of getting in the 

 trees and supplies, the showing made is quite creditable. In connection 

 with this work 5,(508 pounds of tree seed were collected from the forests in 

 California, while over 2,000 pounds were purchased in other states, mostly 

 in Colorado and South Dakota. 



Most of the tree seed sowing in the forests of California was done by 

 means of the so-called "seed-spot" method. A small plot of ground, usually 

 18 to 24 inches square, is dug up with a mattock, spade, or harrow so as to 

 expose and loosen the mineral soil to a depth of several inches. From 12 to 15 

 seeds are then scattered evenly on this prepared plot and, after being firmed 

 into the ground, they are lightly covered with dirt. These seed spots are 

 located usually eight feet apart, making about 700 spots to the acre. By 

 this method, even if only one seed out of each twelve germinates and grows 

 into a tree, the land is fully reforested. 



In many cases the ground was covered with a dense growth of burned 

 chaparral and brush which would soon sprout and crowd out the young 

 seedlings. In order to make the tree sowing a success it was found necessary 

 to cut a certain amount of the brush around each seed spot. In a few cases 

 direct broadcast sowing was tried, the seed being scattered as uniformly as 

 possible over the land. This method is sometimes very successful in the 

 spring, when the melting snow draws the seed into the ground. 



No sooner was the sowing and planting work well under way than a 

 serious drawback appeared in the form of numerous squirrels, chipmunks, 

 mice and rats, which came from all directions to feed on the seed so attrac- 

 tively prepared for them. It was remarkable how quickly the animals would 

 learn of the whereabout of the seed and the distance they w^ould travel to get 

 to this food supply. Burns hundreds and even thousands of acres in extent, 

 with apparently not a sign of an animal on them would suddenly become 

 alive with the little marauders. In a number of instances the animals would 

 sit and wait expectantly until the seed was put into the ground. In some 



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