446 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



"Such reserves would be a paying 

 investment, not only in protection to 

 many interests, but in dollars and cents 

 to the government. The importance 

 to the southern people of protecting 

 the southern mountain forests is ob- 

 vious. These forests are the best de- 

 fense against the floods which, in the 

 recent past, have, during a single 

 twelfth-month, destroyed property of- 

 ficially valued at nearly twice what it 

 would cost to buy the Southern Appa- 

 lachian reserve. 



"The maintenance of your southern 

 water powers is not less important 



than the prevention of floods, because 

 if they are injured your manufactur- 

 ing interests will suffer with them. 

 The perpetuation of your forests, 

 which have done so much for the 

 South, should be one of the first objects 

 of your public men. The two sena- 

 tors from North Carolina have taken 

 an honorable part in this movement. 

 But I do not think that the people of 

 North Carolina, or of any other south- 

 ern state, have quite grasped the im- 

 portance of this movement to the com- 

 mercial development and prosperity of 

 the south." 



SEEDING WASTE LANDS 



The desire to secure a forest growth 

 on the enormous areas of waste land 

 in the west is very strong, but the ex- 

 tent of the actual planting is reduced 

 by the prohibitive cost. Naturally the 

 desire is to secure satisfactory fores- 

 tation at the minimum expense. The 

 most simple way of attaining this end 

 is by broad-cast sowing of seeds on 

 the areas where trees are to stand, thus 

 eliminating the expense of nursery 

 production and transplanting. In cer- 

 tain regions adverse soil conditions 

 and arid climate make such a method 

 entirely impossible. On the other 

 hand, in places where the mineral soil 

 has been exposed by fire or otherwise, 

 where the rains are sufficient and prop- 

 erly distributed, and where birds and 

 rodents are not present in great num- 

 bers, such reproduction may be ob- 

 tained by sowing the seeds. 



The Forest Service has recently fin- 

 ished planting a series of experimental 

 seed plots on the lands of the McCloud 

 River Lumber Company near Mt. 

 Shasta in northern California. The 

 area selected was originally covered 

 with an open stand of large yellow 

 pine and a ground cover of dense 

 chaparral. The removal of the timber 

 and the burning of the chaparral left 

 the ground bare and in excellent shape 

 for a seed bed. The seeds planted 

 were western yellow pine, and for ex- 

 perimental purposes part of them were 



sown broadcast and others were drop- 

 ped at regular distances apart in de- 

 pressions made by the heel of the 

 planter, and covered with the foot. 

 This latter method is more rapid than 

 would be supposed and was accom- 

 plished by a hitch step, which was 

 termed "the forester's quick step." 



Near the Fort Bayard Military Res- 

 ervation in New Mexico similar ex- 

 periments are being carried on with 

 the Mexican walnut and native oaks. 

 In this case the acorns and walnuts 

 are planted along the streams where 

 erosion has been so serious during the 

 heavy rains of the past year. Both of 

 these trees have a massive root system 

 and are calculated to hold a stream in 

 its bed and thrive in the arid climate 

 of the region. 



In the Black Hills of South Dakota 

 broadcast sowing was done last spring 

 on an old burn, and small areas were 

 planted with a corn-planter. The pres- 

 ent indications are that these experi- 

 ments will be highly successful. 



Forest stands secured by direct seed 

 planting are less regular and less cer- 

 tain than where the trees are nursery- 

 grown and set out when two or three 

 years old. For the sake of economy, 

 however, this method of direct seed 

 sowing will be largely followed in fu- 

 ture operations where conditions per- 

 mit. 



