oct. i, 1917 Reproduction from Seed Stored in the Forest Floor 
5 
The most significant facts brought out by the study of the young 
growth on this section have to do with the distribution of the age classes 
and their relative proportions, as shown in Table II. This table shows 
that the 11-year-old class includes 25 per cent of all Douglas-fir seed¬ 
lings found; the 6- to 10-year-old class, 65 per cent; and the o- to 5-year- 
old class, 10 per cent. 
Tabl3 II .—Classification of young growth on section of Columbia burn studied & 
Species. 
Distance from 
seed trees. 
Per¬ 
centage 
of total 
area 
exam¬ 
ined in¬ 
cluded 
in each 
dis¬ 
tance. 
Percentage of total 
number of seedlings 
found within each 
distance. 
Grand total percentage 
of all sfeedlings found. 
Over 10 
years. 
6-10 
years. 
O-5 
years. 
Over 10 
years. 
6-10 
years. 
0-5 
years. 
Chains. 
[Over 10_ 
79. 0 
61. I 
38. 2 
O. 7 
Douglas fir. 
{6-10. 
9 - 7 
48. I 
33-3 
18.6 
' 25-3 
64. 6 
IO. I 
°"5 . 
ii -3 
67. 6 
14. 6 
17.8 
[Over 10.... 
xoo. 0 
15.8 
84. 2 
Western white pine.... j 
<6—10. 
■ 15.8 
84. 2 
jo -5 . 
[Over 10.... 
64. 2 
96. 0 
3-3 
• 7 
Noble fir. 
<6-10. 
20. 4 
00. 0 
c. 4 
4.6 
93-9 
2. 6 
j °“5 . 
i 5-4 
7 
76 - s 
9.4 
14. I 
O D 
[Over 10.... 
56.6 
87.9 
IO. 2 
1.9 
Silver fir. 
16-10. 
24. 4 
71 . 3 
18. 7 
9. 8 
-80. 1 
13. 2 
6. 7 
U -5 . 
19. O 
/ j 
55 -1 
22. 9 
y 
22 . O 
[Over 10.... 
92. O 
36.8 
57-8 
5-4 
Western hemlock. 
<6-10. 
8. 0 
76.9 
23. 1 
■21. 8 
65. 6 
12. 6 
l°-5. 
o Total area examined=i8.6 acres. 
The proportion of age classes tells the history of the reproduction, 
showing that only a comparatively small percentage of the total Douglas- 
fir reproduction on this area started the first year after the fire, by far the 
greater part of the seed germinated during a period of from 2 to 6 years, 
and very little germination occurred in the period from 7 to n years. 
The decrease of germination of seed throughout the section after the 
first few years subsequent to the burn and the very -small percentage of 
the young age classes found at more than five chains from seed trees 
indicated that the remaining seed trees had not been a factor in the 
restocking of the area. 
These facts are supported by the records of the township study (Table 
III). Although the Douglas fir which germinated the first year after 
the fire was more than half the total Douglas-fir germination, the small 
percentage of germination after the sixth year following the fire was 
evidence that the remaining seed trees were not casting seed over the 
bum, because germination conditions were still favorable when ex¬ 
amined 11 years after the fire. 
