Seedlings per square foot 



Pelleted seed 

 (number) 



Xonpelleted seed 

 (number) 



0. 15 



0. 32 



. 36 



.61 



.93 



. 76 



PELLET SEEDING ON WESTERN RANGELANDS 21 



per 250 square feet. In 1950 and 1951 no trace of seedlings remained 

 (Moomaw et a/.. 1954). 



Experimental field seeding. — In July 1950, the number of 

 seedlings per square foot on the experimental plots were as folio 



Site 



Crane Creek No. 1 



Crane Creek No. 2 



Pocatello 



Observations in 1951 showed seedling mortalities of 25 and 70 

 percent at the two Crane Creek sites. Mortality was approximately 

 the same for both the pelleted and the nonpelleted seed. The seedling 

 loss was attributed to poor rooting. 



In connection with this study, several other small-scale field seeding 

 trials were made with both coated and compressed pellets and with 

 nonpelleted seed. None of the seedings showed any advantage for 

 pellets (Moomaw, 1951; Moomaw et al., 1954). 



Summit, Idaho 



Summit is a rolling area north of Shoshone, Idaho. There are many 

 rhyolitic and basaltic outcrops. Elevation is 5,000 feet and annual 

 precipitation is 14 inches. The soil is a loam. Principal species are 

 big sagebrush and low sagebrush with a sparse understory of beard- 

 less bluebunch wheatgrass and other grasses. Sagebrush averaged 

 about 43 plants per 100 square feet. 



Procedures 



This area was burned clean on August 12, 1954. Coated pellets of 

 crested wheatgrass were broadcast by airplane on November 3, 1954. 

 Pelleted seed was used on 1,270 acres and nonpelleted seed on 66 

 acres. Thirty-five acres were plowed and drilled, and one acre \\ a 

 burned and drilled. All seedings were at the rate of 6 pounds of seed 

 per acre. 



> 



Results 



During 1955, 1956, and 1961. counts showed the following Dumber 



of plants per square foot: 



Pla- i are foot 



Seeding method 1955 



Burned and airplane broadcast to pellet? 0.1 0.03 0.02 



Burned and drilled to nonpelleted seed 15 2 I l ; 



Plowed and drilled to nonpelleted seed 5 2 2. i L4 



