\ 10. GENERAL EXPERIENCE 



a. Fert i I i z i ng Large Areas 



The National Park Service initiated a fertilizer program at Cape 

 Hatteras National Seashore in the spring of 1963 based on the results of 

 the preliminary trials conducted in that area in 1961 and 1962. Primary 

 attention in this program was focused on the zone comprising the foredune 

 and a strip, one to three hundred feet in width, behind the foredune. This 

 involved a total area of about 2,000 acres, spread over a length of 65-70 

 m i I es. 



A 30-10-0 fertilizer compound, developed and supplied by the Tennessee 

 Va I I ey Author ity, was chosen as the most su itab I e mater ia I ava i lab le. The 

 principal considerations were: a pelleted material, supplying nitrogen and 

 phosphorus with a high nitrogen to phosphorus ratio at a reasonable cost. 

 The program through the three years from 1963 to 1965 consisted of four 

 applications per year of 100 to 125 pounds each of the 30-10-0 material, 

 applied around April I, May 15, July I and September 15. 



Appl ication by hel icopter turned out to be a very satisfactory method. 

 The principal advantages are: 



(1) Much better distribution than could be attained with ground 

 equipment over this rough terrain; 



(2) absence of damage to dunes which would result from ground 

 equ i pment; 



(3) ability to operate satisfactorily under the prevailing windy 

 conditions; the down-blast from the rotor blades drives the 

 pellets downward with considerable force; 



(4) flexibility in landing requirements which always permits 

 loading close to the area to be fertilized, and 



(5) reasonable cost - of the order of $2.00 to $3.00 per acre, 

 per app I icat ion. 



This very satisfactory 3-year program resulted in a "full cover" 

 condition on perhaps 90 percent of the area by the end of the third growing 

 season. Three years earlier , about 90 percent of the area consisted of 

 thin degenerating stands. Generally, the areas that still lack adequate 

 cover are those that carried very few plants at the beginning of the program 

 or have only recently been planted. Fortunately, this stretch of the Banks 

 has not been subjected to hurricanes or other exceptionally severe storms 

 during this testing period, thus permitting the un i nterrupted. devel opment of 

 the cover. The value of this greatly improved cover remains to be tested 

 by storms, but there is every reason to expect substantial benefits. One, 

 already obvious, is the noticeable gain in elevation of many areas due to 

 the trapping of sand by the improved cover. With the attainment of "full 



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