42 CIECULAR 17 8, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGEiCIJLTURE 



ods, in accordance with circumstances in each case, may be employed 

 on micultivated lands. Some information on terracing range lands 

 is given in another United States Department of Agriculture bulletin 

 already cited (SO, p. SI). 



Sowing or planting to some suitable species should be done on the 

 terraces to bind the soil and make the improvement more permanent. 

 Sowing is usually most efficacious if clone in the fall of the same year 

 the terraces are made. The same directions should in general be 

 followed in selecting the areas and the species to use as for seeding 

 without terraces, except that the work should be concentrated on the 

 more seriously eroded areas. Moreover, growing conditions are usu- 

 ally more favorable on the terraces because of the moisture accumu- 

 lating from run-off and the protection which the terraces afford 

 against run-off damage before the plants become established. This 

 gives a somewhat greater choice in the selection of species, although 

 it ordinarily pays to select the more hardy, quick-growing varieties. 



TRANSPLANTING TO CHECK EROSION 



Of the weeds, grasses, and shrubs used in the tests to check erosion 

 by transplanting on the Wasatch Plateau in central Utah, three 

 weedy plants, viz: Sweet sagebrush or sweet sage {Artemisia in- 

 conifta),' western yarrow {Achillea JamiJosa), and Eydberg pent- 

 stemon {Penfstenion rydhergii) gave the best results, in the order 

 named. They all have vigorous rootstocks, are easily established, 

 and spread to form a dense turf. The expense involved and the slow 

 rate of spread of these species render transplanting of questionable 

 value as compared to seeding of eroded areas. The chief use of 

 these three weeds for transplanting is at intervals in medium to 

 small-sized gullies. Once started in such places their turfs form 

 dams effective in checking the velocity of run-off. 



Slender wheatgrass and thickspike wheatgrass, when transplanted, 

 gave much the same results as the three weeds mentioned. 



Shrub planting thus far has proved of little value for checking 

 erosion, whether on terraces, along gully sides, or in rows parallel 

 to the contours away from terraces. All of 4,561 individual speci- 

 mens of stem, sprout, and root cuttings of aspen {Pofulus tremii- 

 Joides aurea^ syn. P. aurea) planted along the banks of gullies were 

 failures. Similar results occurred with stem cuttings of bunchberry 

 elder, 3,612 of willow {Salix sp.), and 3.073 of gooseberry currant 

 {Eihes montigenum). A few transplants of lanceleaf rabbit brush 

 {Chrysothamnus lanceolatus) became established, but survival was 

 too low to justify further use of this species. Transplanting of 

 small specimens of bunchberry elder and gooseberry currant gave 

 somewhat better results. A fair proportion of each of these species 

 survived, but their spread, once established, was so slow that after 

 8 to 10 years it had not been sufficient to influence erosion materially. 

 Under natural conditions, both these species form very dense al- 

 though not continuous brush thickets of high value for preventing 

 erosion. 



'' A great many of the species of Artemisia are shrubs, but a number, including A. 

 incompta, are herbaceous. 



