14 



BULLETIN 4, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



lodgepole pine, lowland fir, Douglas fir. and aspen were the most 

 abundant species. About 20 years ago practically all the timber 

 was killed by fires, leaving the ground strewn with semideca} T ed logs. 

 Chaparral, which is very dense on adjoining areas, is rapidly invad- 

 ing some of the land. Coniferous reproduction, consisting chiefly of 

 spruce, lowland fir, tamarack, and lodgepole pine, is abundant, and 

 saplings are making an unusually rapid growth, indicating favorable 

 conditions. There is a sparse stand of grasses and grass-like plants, 

 those most abundant being pine grass (Calamagrostis suksdorfii), 

 two sedges, and a number of weedy annuals. The herbaceous vege- 

 tation had been closely grazed by cattle at the time that the seed- 

 ing was done. 



Additional reseeding plots were established in the less rugged 

 portion of the Wallowa Mountains, near what is called the " Billy 

 Meadow " country. The elevation of this locality (5,000 feet) is 

 slightly greater than that of the Bear Creek area, but in the same 

 vegetation type. The lands selected had been overgrazed to a marked 

 degree, but the soil was still fertile and capable of high carrying 

 capacity. Timothy. Kentucky blue grass, redtop, and alsike clover, 

 were used. Both pure and mixed seeding was done on these plots, 

 the proportion of seed being virtually the same as that given for 

 other plots where the same species were employed. The alsike clover 

 was seeded at the rate of 8 pounds per acre. In some of the plots 

 the seed was harrowed or brushed in ; in other cases no soil treat- 

 ment was given. The viability of the seed of the species used in 

 these studies was determined under controlled conditions in the Seed 

 Testing Laboratory of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. The results of these tests follow : 



Table 2. — Viability of the seeds of the species sown. 



Kind of seed. 



Germina- 

 tion. 



Smooth brome grass 

 Kentucky blue grass 



Redtop .'. 



Timothy 



Alsike clover 



White clover 



The germination tests show that with the exception of Kentucky 

 blue grass, which germinated only 44.5 per cent after a test of 31 

 days, the viability of the seeds sown was as good as might be ex- 

 pected. Owing, however, to the likelihood of heating " at the time 

 of harvesting, viability of Kentucky bine grass is usually below that 

 of the other species here employed. 



