2 BULLETIN 475, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The greater portion of the area which it seems advisable to reforest 
consists of old bums, where recurring fires have completely ruined 
the former forest and have left a scanty, sterile, and dried-out soil, 
often littered with charred down timber and stumps. Some of these 
old burns are grown up to brush, some to fern, and some to grass 
and fireweed. Many have been badly eroded: and there are large 
areas where most of the vegetable soil has been burned. Among the 
easiest to reforest are those which have recently suffered from light 
fires, so that the mineral soil is exposed, but which are not so badly 
eroded or grown up to brush as to make the establishment of tree 
gi^owth very difficult. 
REFORESTATION AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE OF NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRA- 
TION. 
The two chief objects of the National Forests are the production 
of timber and the protection of wat^r sources. The timberlands of 
the National Forests are now producing from five to six billion board 
feet of wood a year. The complete restocking of the areas now de- 
- nuded or sparsely timbered will increase the annual production of 
wood at least 3,000.000,000 feet. Probably still greater advantages 
will be secured eventually through improved conditions for stream- 
flow on many watersheds. This is a public benefit of immense impor- 
tance because of its relation to the supply of water for cities and 
towns, the protection of water sources for irrigation and power, and 
the navigation of large streams. Eestocking can be brought about 
in part by the protection of the forests from fire, which permits the 
natural extension of tree growth. The rest can be accomplished only 
by forest planting. 
In selecting sites for artificial reforestation preference is usually 
given in the following order : First, watersheds of streams important 
for irrigation and municipal water supply, such as those which sup- 
ply water to Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City: second, lands 
which will produce heavy stands of quick-growing trees of high com- 
mercial value, such as those in northern Idaho and western Wash- 
ington: third, regions where the supply of timber is limited and 
more wood is needed for local uses, as in western North and South 
Dakota : and fourth, sites which offer good opportunities for object 
lessons in the practice of forestry, such as the sand hills of western 
Nebraska (PI. I), where there is practically no natural woodland, and 
the inferior sandy lands of the Lake States, where the original .forest 
wealth has been largely destroyed by cutting and fire. Some areas 
combine several advantages. For instance, a burned-over tract may 
be suitable for sowing to some rapid-growing timber species and may 
