6 CmCtJLAR 178, V. S. DEPABTMENT? Of AGHlCtTLTUIlE 



increased income from the range, the reckoning must include, in 

 addition to the actual cash outlay for the seeding operations, interest 

 charge on this outlay and other expenses chargeable to the project. 

 The interest charges are influenced directly by the period required 

 for a stand to become established. The return from the investment 

 depends upon the permanency of the stand and the period over 

 ■which it permits the whole financial venture to be spread, and also 

 upon the increase in forage production. Where grazing use is a 

 supplemental measure to reduce the carrying charge of timberland, 

 pending restocking to timber, the timber-growing project and not 

 grazing should carry the taxes and interest on the investment in 

 land. 



Other things being equal, the more inaccessible the area the higher 

 are the costs of transportation and labor and the smaller the value 

 of the land and its crop. High initial expense for seeding on areas 

 difficult of access is therefore not often warranted. The principle 

 involved in the realtor's maxim, " Don't put a $10,000 house on a 

 $100 lot," applies here as elsewhere. The best growth conditions 

 obtain on such range sites as mountain meadows, rich, loamy bottom 

 lands, and the more fertile gentle slopes of moderate elevation and 

 considerable extent, and there are the best possibilities for success- 

 ful reseecling. 



COST OF SEED' PER ACRE 



The initial cost of the seeding operation includes the items of 

 seed and planting. The cost of the seed varies with the quantity 

 required to obtain a satisfactory stand and the cost per pound. For 

 example, the seed of Kentucky bluegrass costs at least about 24 cents 

 a pound, and about 15 pounds to the acre are required to obtain a 

 satisfactory stand. Hence, the cost is about $3.60 an acre for seed 

 alone. Timothy seed, on the other hand, costs about 7 cents a pound, 

 and at the rate of 8 pounds to the acre the cost is about 56 cents an 

 acre. With the more expensive species, such as Kentucky bluegrass 

 and white clover, especially when they also reproduce by rootstocks 

 or stolons it is seldom, if ever, desirable under range couditions to 

 use the full quantity of seed ordinarily recommended to obtain a 

 full stand. These species may be sown in mixture with cheaper 

 species or a half or a third of the full quantity may be used and the 

 new growth protected and given time to spread naturally. Such 

 reductions in seed must be determined upon the basis of prevailing 

 circumstances in each case. The minimum quantities of seed to 

 use for obtaining a satisfactory stand of a number of cultivated 

 species on western range soils of high productivity, as well as the 

 approximate cost of seed per pound and the approximate cost per 

 acre, are included in Table 1. 



