The Study 



The study site was an old field on the Irvine Demonstration Forest 

 near Warren, Pennsylvania. A rank cover of mixed grasses, goldenrod, 

 and other forbs was present. The soil is a moderately well to somewhat 

 poorly drained silt loam. The site is similar to much of the open land 

 on the Allegheny Plateau. 



Ripe seed for the study was collected September 17, 1961. It was 

 cleaned by mashing the fruits in a potato ricer under running water. 

 The cleaned seed was then spread to air-dry until October 5. At that 

 time, part of the seed was sown in the fall seeding phase of the study. 

 Another portion of the same batch of seed was stratified in sand out 

 of doors over winter for use in the spring seeding phase. This seeding 

 was done on April 18, 1962. 



The study involved 20 treatment combinations. These were applied 

 in a randomized block design consisting of 4 blocks of 20 plots each 

 for each sowing season. The plots were 3 by 3 feet, and were contiguous 

 within blocks. 



The 20 treatments were combinations of 5 methods of seedbed prepa- 

 ration and 4 supplemental treatments. The seedbed preparations were: 



1. No treatment. 



2. Scarified — surface litter mixed with soil. 



3. Spaded — surface litter turned under. 



4. Scalped — plants and surface litter removed. 



5. Burned — surface litter consumed by fire; ashes left in place. 



Each plot was sown with 25 seeds at 6-by-6-inch spacing. A template 

 was used to facilitate even spacing. Seeds were embedded flush with the 

 soil surface on all seedbeds except the spaded ones; there they were 

 placed about Yi mcn deep. 



The supplemental treatments were: 



1. No treatment. 



2. Vegetation clipped twice during the growing season at seedling 

 height, to simulate machine mowing. 



3. Fertilized with slow - acting magnesium ammonium phosphate of 

 8-40-0 analysis at the rate of 1 ounce per plot. In the fall seeding, 

 the fertilizer was simply dropped through the holes of the template 

 after the seed had been sown. In the spring seeding, the appropriate 

 amount of fertilizer was placed in a hole punched about 3 inches 

 deep at each seed spot before sowing. 



4. Fertilized and clipped — combination of treatments 2 and 3 above. 



