ARTIFICIAL RESEEDmC ON WESTEEK MOUNTAIN RANGE LANDS 43 



The greatest survival of transplants occurred on terraces where 

 moisture conditions were the most favorable. Only an occasional 

 specimen became established along the banks of gullies, presumably 

 because of the early drying out of the soil, and they checked erosion 

 but little if at all. 



The best time for transplanting, as shown by these tests, is in the 

 spring immediately after the snow has melted, when soil moisture 

 is usually sufficient to enable the plants to take root and become forti- 

 fied against the several weeks of dry weather that usually follow. A 

 delay of as much as three or four days after the snow had disap- 

 peared materially increased the number of plants that perished. 



FUTURE POSSIBILITIES IN ARTIFICIAL RESEEDING 



Up to the present time successful artificial reseeding of range 

 lands has been confined mainly to areas with growing conditions 

 above the average. However, the possibilities of the discovery or 

 development of plants that are adapted to the less favorable condi- 

 tions and superior to those already successfully introduced in the 

 better areas are by no means exhausted. Thus far the work has been 

 confined principally to cultivated or tame forage plants ; yet all of 

 these have not been tried out as fully and under as many conditions 

 as is warranted. Still less work has been done in testing the useful- 

 ness of wild or native species, in introducing promising plants from 

 foreign countries, and in developing suitable forms through plant- 

 breeding. The field for investigation and work along these lines 

 is still largely unexplored. 



The results already obtained, for example, with mountain brome- 

 grass and slender and violet wheatgrasses suggest the possibility that 

 other native forage species might be successfully cultivated. A great 

 many indigenous forage plants, including both grasses and weeds, 

 are fully as valuable for forage in their native state as the three 

 species mentioned. Many of these propagate by rootstocks, and this 

 adds to their value as pasture plants. Since these plants are already 

 adapted to local conditions, the major problems are to determine 

 whether their seed can be produced at a reasonable cost and what 

 response they make to cultivation. 



Introduction of plants from foreign countries and the development 

 of superior varieties by selective breeding both offer hope for the 

 future. Nearly all the forage plants now grown in extensive cultiva- 

 tion in the more humid regions of this country have been introduced 

 from the Old World. The successful establishment of such species 

 as alfileria, wild oat, and bur clover on many southwestern ranges 

 indicates the possibility that other forage plants will succeed in the 

 western range region. Much has been done to develop more hardy 

 and more resistant cereals through selection and breeding, and this 

 suggests that similar results might be obtained with range forage 

 plants. 



SUMMARY 



Investigations and experience indicate that artificial range reseed- 

 ing will be successful on areas with rainfall, soil, and other growing 

 conditions above the average. Such areas include mountain 



