36 



OIKCtJLAB 17 8, tJ. S. DEPAETMEls^T OF AaElCULTUEE 



5 or 6 inches in diameter cut into lengths of about 5 feet, fitted to- 

 gether in the form of the letter A, or a triangle, with wooden pegs 

 at intervals of about 5 inches made from branches of available timber 

 or small saplings fitted into holes bored in the log. 



The brush drag, or brush harrow, also useful for covering seed in 

 loose soil free from vegetation, consists of several broomlike branches 

 or saplings of stiff -twigged or stiff-leaved species, in lengths of about 



6 feet, laid parallel to each other and tied by the butt ends to a cross- 

 jjiece about 6 feet in length. It may also be dragged by a rope 

 attached to the saddle horn. 



Driving a band of sheep two or more times over an area after the 

 seed has been sown or grazing them on it in compact formation is a 

 very satisfactory and inexpensive method of working the seed into 

 the soil (fig. 3), especially Avhere the soil is stiff, the area partially 



f'iGURE 3. — felioep, compactiy herded, trampling in seed on an artificially reseeded area, 

 Manti National Forest, Utah 



vegetated, or the surface of such a character that the use of the 

 harrow or brush drag is difficult. It is well to graze the area closely 

 enough to loosen the soil and the turf of native plants and allow 

 the seed to be worked in. Where the soil is already loose or moist, 

 however, care must be used to see that the trampling does not con- 

 tinue long enough to get the seed too deeply in the ground or to pack 

 the soil severely. • Cattle may be used in a similar manner, but they 

 are more difficult to handle. 



SOWING AND PLANTING TO CHECK EROSION 



Closely akin to range improvement by artificial reseeding is the 

 sowing and planting of grasses, weeds, shrubs, and trees for the 

 purpose of checking soil erosion. When the natural plant cover on 

 the headwaters of streams in mountainous country has been de- 

 pleted by overgrazing or other cause, erosion usually sets in imme- 

 diately. A system of small rills or shoestring gullies ordinarily 

 becomes established on the upper slopes of the watershed with sheet 

 erosion taking place between them. (Fig. 4.) Farther down the 



