UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
^ BULLETIN No. 475 I 
^■'^U^ Contribution from the Forest Service. 
Kf^'^Su HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester. ^S^*^Su 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER May 28, 1917 
REFORESTATION ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 
By C. R. TiLLOTSoN, Forest Examiner. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Reforestation an essential fea- 
ture of National Forest ad- 
ministration 2 
Collection of seed 3 
Seed crops 3 
Gathering the seed 4 
Drying the cones 6 
Extracting the seed 13 
Seed cleaning 14 
Yield from cones 17 
Cost of seed 17 
Number of seed per pound 18 
Seed storing 18 
Page. 
Sowing and planting 18 
Status of the work on the Na- 
tional forests 18 
Sowing and planting methods 20 
Quantity of seed and number of 
plants per acre 32 
Costs 33 
Season 36 
Field organization 39 
Causes of failure and losses, 
and methods of prevention — 46 
Sowing or planting by regions- 53 
INTRODUCTION. 
The National Forests are scattered from Alaska to Porto Rico and 
contain within their boundaries all sorts of timberlands, from those 
which produce only cordwood to those which support the finest and 
most valuable stands of timber in the world. Sometimes natural re- 
generation of the forest fails or a forest not yet producing seed needs 
to be increased in density. There are also in the National Forests 
about 5,600,000 acres now bearing little or no tree growth which are 
capable of producing valuable timber and are suitable for no other 
purpose. It is the object of reforestation to improve the stands which 
are too thin and to make the bare lands productive. Reforestation 
operations on the National Forests now cover from twelve to fifteen 
thousand acres yearly. 
Note. — This bulletin supersedes Forest Service Bulletin 98, " Reforestation on the 
National Forests," by W. T, Cox, on which the material relating to seed collecting and 
direct seeding is largely based. It represents the results of the study and experience of 
many different members of the Forest Service, The author's part has been to compile, 
weigh, and harmonize these results and to present the reforestation work of the Forest 
Service as a whole. 
62479°— Bull. 475—17 1 
