UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 43 
recent bums or on other areas where the seed can easily reach the 
mineral soil. In such cases, sowing should be done in late winter or 
early spring, when the surface of the snow is thawing and the seed 
will sink in, and preferably at a time when there is a likelihood of 
another fall of snow. When the snow finally leaves the area, the 
seed is washed into the soil, and conditions are favorable for early 
germination. The seed is usually broadcasted at the rate of two 
fertile seeds per square foot, equivalent to from 2 to 3 pounds of seed 
per acre. 
Every area broadcasted with seed must be protected from rodents, 
such as squirrels and field mice, until after the seed has germinated. 
Many of the early failures in reforestation were due to the depreda- 
tions of small rodents that devoured the seed as quickly as it was 
sown. For this reason every seeded area should be poisoned as a 
measure of protection. 1 This should be done several weeks before 
the seed is sown, and preferably again after it is in the ground. The 
seeded areas should also be protected against the grazing of live- 
stock, and, after the small seedlings appear, against fire. 
In 1910, 630 acres in the three States of Colorado, Wyoming, and 
Montana were reforested to lodgepole pine by direct seeding, at an 
average cost of $10.77 per acre. In 1911, 640 acres in these States 
were seeded at an average cost of $8.68 per acre. These costs are 
abnormally high, since much of the work was experimental, and in 
many cases unnecessarily large _amounts of seed were used. Under 
ordinary conditions it should be possible to carry on direct seeding 
by the two methods described within the following limits of cost: 
Cost per acre. 
Seed spots. 
Broadcasting. 
Seed (at $2 per pound) . 
Seed sowing 
Poisoning rodents 
Total 
$1.00 to $2. 00 
2. 50 4. 50 
.10 .15 
$4. 00 to $6. 00 
.25 .75 
.10 15 
6.65 
4.35 6.90 
Where the area to be seeded is very rough and steep, or is covered 
with fallen timber or bowlders, the maximum costs just given may 
sometimes be exceeded. In many cases, also, it will be necessary to 
reseed certain portions of the area in order to secure a satisfactory 
stand. Fail spots should not be reseeded, however, until two or 
three years after the first sowing, since a portion of the original seed 
often lies over for a year before germination. 
1 Information regarding the best methods of poisoning rodents is contained in Forest Service Bulletin 
98, "Reforestation on the National Forests"; Bureau of the Biological Survey Circular 78, "Seed Eating 
Mammals in Relation to Reforestation"; and Farmers' Bulletin 484, " Some Common Mammals of Western 
Montana in Relation to Agriculture and Spotted Fever." 
