ARTIFICIAL EESEEDING ON WESTERIsT MOUKTAIiT RANGE LANDS 13 



Rainfall in almost any locality in the West varies materially from 

 year to year. If sowings are attempted in a year of deficient mois- 

 ture, failure may be expected. Plantings made during a wet year 

 and especially at the beginning of a series of wet years should yield 

 excellent results. Forage plants that have become well established 

 will ordinarily survive the dry periods. 



LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON 



Altitude affects the length of the growing season, and this mate- 

 rially influences the success of many species. As altitude increases 

 the growing season becomes shorter. When the growing season is 

 less than 100 days only the strongest and best seedlings become 

 established, and even this scanty stand may be thinned out mate- 

 rially the first season. Plants which get started at excessive eleva- 

 tions are likely not to make vigorous growth, and rate of spread is 

 interfered with. Artificial reseeding with timothy, Kentucky blue- 

 grass, and redtop at 4,800-foot and 7,800-foot elevations in the Blue 

 Mountains of northeastern Oregon resulted in average deficiencies at 

 the higher elevation of (1) over 50 per cent in the height growth; 

 (2) nearly 60 per cent in vegetative density; (2) over 76 per cent in 

 estimated annual yield; and (4) approximately 85 per cent in 

 viability of seed crop. In general those areas at altitudes sufficient 

 to have satisfactory rainfall and yet not too near timber line give 

 best results. 



The elevations above which other than native species may be used 

 successfully vary with individual species. None of the cultivated 

 plants have yielded good results when tried out above timber line. 

 Species which depend mainly upon seed for reproduction, such 

 as timothy, orchard grass, and many of the clovers, can seldom de- 

 velop sufficiently to produce fertile seed when grown within 1,000 to 

 1,500 feet of timber line. Unless viable seed is produced, such 

 species are unable to maintain and improve the stand. Other species, 

 such as common bromegrass and Kentucky and Canada bluegrass, 

 which propagate from rootstocks and are not dependent upon seed 

 for regeneration, can be grown at slightly higher elevations in the 

 same region, but none of them yield very well above timber line. 



SOIL 



The soil should be fairly deep, with considerable organic matter; 

 it should not be too coarse, should be free from acidity (unless acid- 

 resisting species are used), and should be in fair tilth. Fine texture 

 is of great importance, because of its effect on moisture. Coarse 

 soils, which readily lose their water content through percolation and 

 evaporation, should be avoided. Depth also is of importance in 

 retaining moisture; shallow soils dry out much more readily than 

 the deeper ones. 



Soil acidity and lack of oxygen may enter in on poorly drained 

 places where the ground is saturated the greater part of the season. 

 In such localities the soil may be acid or sour in varying degrees, 

 owing to the accumulations of organic matter. Species adapted to 

 such sites must be used if success is to be attained. 



