AETinCIAL EESEEDIKG ON WESTERN MOUNTAIN RANGE LANDS 39 



checked to a point where seeding in them will be successful. In 

 fact, if the species selected has strong seeding habits suitable to 

 the growing conditions, it will spread down the slope of its own 

 accord as rapidly as improvement in conditions will permit. Con- 

 sequently, judicious sowing on the upper limits of an eroded slope 

 may eventually reclaim the entire slope except as soil may inter- 

 fere at the lower portions with the spread of the particular species 

 used. The process will usually be slow in the deeper, larger chan- 

 nels but may be hastened by engineering works such as dams and 

 tiling, or by plowing or planting (27) . 



In sowing to check erosion prompt establishment of the species 

 has been shown to be essential since the seeding must gain a foothold 

 between the times of torrential run-off. Quick-starting, rapid-grow- 

 ing, strong-rooted species that reproduce readily by seed, rootstocks, 

 or stolons should be selected. With a strong root system to bind 

 the soil and resist heavy run-off, and strong reproductive qualities 

 to extend as rapidly as possible the area thus held, the first victory 

 is won in the process of revegetation. (Fig. 5.) 



Mountain bromegrass, meadow barley {Hordeum^ nodoswn)^ and 

 violet wheatgrass, all native grasses, ranked in the order named in 

 checking erosion in tests on the Wasatch Plateau in central Utah. 

 Although none of these species have rootstocks or stolons, they spread 

 readily by seed, have strong, deep root systems, and are well adapted 

 to the growing conditions obtaining in that locality. Violet wheat- 

 grass is somewhat slower to become established and requires better 

 soil than the other two species named. Meadow barley is the least 

 desirable of the three, if grazing subsequent to the checking of ero- 

 sion is contemplated, as it is the least highly prized for forage. 

 Seedlings of Letterman needle grass {Stipci lettennani) ^ Nevada 

 bluegrass {Poa nevadensis) ^ greenleaf fescue {Festuca viridula)^ 

 thickspike wheatgrass {Agropyron dasystachyim) bunchberry elder 

 {Smiibucus Tnio'ohotrys)^ and squaw currant {Ribes inehriaiis)^ all 

 native species, were tried out, but each of these plants was found 

 unsatisfactory because of difficulty in getting started from seed or 

 inability to become established quickly. 



Of the cultivated species tried out, common bromegrass has given 

 the best results. It is slower in becoming established than the better 

 native plants and consequently gives best results on the more moder- 

 ate slopes. Once established, it spreads fairly rapidly by rootstocks, 

 making a dense turf and eventually forming an excellent protective 

 covering. Kentucky and Canada bluegrasses have many of the same 

 qualities when once established but are slower than bromegrass in 

 gaining a foothold. Where these species grow well, they deserve 

 consideration for use in follow-iip plantings after the worst erosion 

 has been checked by more rapid-starting plants. Orchard grass and 

 timothy proved of little value in checking erosion at high elevations, 

 because of their slow rate of establishment and inability to revegetate. 



The sowing of a luxuriant, rapidly growing annual will often 

 serve where the period between times of run-off or disturbance of the 

 soil is too short for perennials to become established. This often 

 occurs in warin, dry sites where the moist season is too short for the 



