THE RESEEDING OF DEPLETED GRAZING LANDS. 33 



sequence badly aerated and sour, are to be avoided or time and money 

 will be wasted. Only the better-drained lands which are well sup- 

 plied with soil moisture throughout the summer should be seeded to 

 clovers. 



WHEN TO SEED. 



The climatic conditions, length of the growing season, and the 

 character of the soil in a great measure determine the time that seed- 

 ing should be done. 



Under natural conditions in the mountains the seed crop is dis- 

 seminated in the autumn and lies dormant until the soil warms up 

 the following spring. 



Within the altitudes at which temperature is favorable to growth, 

 a single factor — drought — is instrumental in causing frequent fail- 

 ures. The soils of most mountain lands readily dry out near the. 

 surface. This condition results in the serious destruction of shallow- 

 rooted seedlings. The deeper-rooted plants resulting from autumn 

 seeding are less liable to serious thinning out than the seedlings 

 with a shallower and less elaborate root system produced from seed 

 sown in the spring. 



Where the winter does not permit of growth, late autumn sowing 

 should, in general, be resorted to. Care must be exercised to sow 

 late enough so that no germination will take place until spring or 

 the seedlings are likely to be heaved out of the ground and killed. 

 The ideal time to seed is just before permanent snows come in the 

 autumn. 



If the situation is wet during most of the year, the seed may be 

 dormant for a number of months, and is likely to decay before germi- 

 nation can take place. In such situations spring seeding should be 

 resorted to. Again, in certain situations, especially in parts of the 

 Southwest where the early spring period is habitually followed by 

 dry weather and the inception of summer by heavy precipitation, the 

 seed should not be scattered until late in the spring. In such regions 

 the seed, if sown in the autumn, usually germinates as soon as the 

 temperature is favorable, even though there is a small amount of 

 moisture in the soil, and the tender shallow-rooted plants, being 

 wholly dependent upon the surface soil for moisture, are almost 

 invariably killed before the summer rains come. 



METHODS OF SOWING. 



The methods of sowing must be practical and inexpensive. The 

 amount of work justified in sowing, preparing, and working the 

 soil will naturally depend on the carrying capacity of the range and 

 on the effectiveness of the operations. In many localities the moun- 

 tains are so rugged and transportation is so difficult that the use of 

 implements which the farmer relies on for tilling and working the 

 soil is impracticable. 



