JOURNAL OP AMORAL RESEARCH 
Vol. XI Washington, D. C., October i, 1917 No. 1 
NATURAL REPRODUCTION FROM SEED STORED IN 
THE FOREST FLOOR 
By J. V. Hofmann, 
Forest Examiner in Charge of Wind River Experiment Station , Forest Service , United 
States Department of Agriculture 
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 
On many bums and cut-over areas in the Douglas fir and western 
white-pine region of northwestern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon there 
are found dense and irregular stands of young growth, the origin of 
which can not be traced in any way to the seed trees left after cutting 
or burning. The effort to find the true source of seed of these stands 
began with a study 1 to determine the efficiency of seed trees in restock¬ 
ing the ground and the distances to which seed is disseminated. 
Studies on the Kaniksu National Forest in northern Idaho of cut-over 
areas, some with single seed trees and others with groups of seed trees, 
brought out the fact that western white pine {Finns monticola Dough), 
Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia [Earn.] Butler), western red cedar {Juni- 
perns occidentalis Hook), and western hemlock ( Tsnga helerophylla [Rof.] 
Sargent) were producing satisfactory stands of young growth for a dis¬ 
tance of not more than from 2 to 5 chains from the seed trees. Instead 
of being blown abundantly over large areas, the seed was cast in suffi¬ 
cient stand-producing quantities within a radius of only a few chains. 
This is illustrated in figure 1, which is based on an area studied two 
years after cutting. 
The cut-over area shown in figure 1 contains 160 acres. It was clear- 
cut, blocks of seed trees (A, B, C, and D) containing from 2 to 4 acres 
each being left to reseed the area. The slash was left broadcast and 
burned the same year of the cutting. A very severe slash fire burned 
over all of the cutting except area E in the northwestern part and area 
F in the southwestern part. The whole cutting was studied by running 
1 The writer began the study of seed viability and factors influencing germination at the College of For¬ 
estry, University of Minnesota. The results of these studies are to be published as a bulletin of the Uni¬ 
versity of Minnesota. He wishes gratefully to acknowledge the assistance given by Mr. D. R. Brewster, 
of the Forest Service, in this work; also the valuable aid of Mr. C. J. Kraebel, Forest Assistant, Wind 
River Experiment Station, in analyzing and interpreting the field data. 
(*) 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Washington, D. C. 
jx 
Vol. XI, No. 1 
Oct. 1, 1917 
Key No. F—4 
