1184 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 12 
some of this seed had “delayed germi¬ 
nation,” but other species whose seed 
does not hold over are also present as 
1-year-olds. This seems to be strong 
evidence of seed dispersion for dis¬ 
tances of a mile or more. 
South of Alder Creek is a long and 
steep north slope from 3,000 to 4,700 
feet in elevation. This was heavily 
burned in 1910 and 1919, and all green 
timber was destroyed except a few 
larches on the lower part of the slope. 
Here the natural restocking is extremely 
irregular and entirely insufficient. 
Strangely enough, on this north slope 
no new white pine seedlings were 
found. The nearest white pine trees 
which could have furnished seed are 
part of a seed group remaining on top 
of a knoll less than one-half mile to 
windward. Occasional new Douglas 
fir and lodgepole pine seedlings were 
found, and these might welt-have come 
from this same seed-tree group. Seed¬ 
lings of western larch 3 and 4 years old 
formed 88 per cent of the total, and 
unmistakably showed their relation to 
large parent trees surviving the 1910 
burn and killed or dying as a result of 
the 1919 fire. 
One of the most completely devas¬ 
tated slopes met with in this study is 
the north aspect toward Jordan Creek 
(pi. 2, B). Here was formerly a 
dense and mature forest containing 
much splendid white pine and some 
western larch, white fir, and hemlock. 
Both the 1910 and the 1919 fires 
raced up the narrow Jordan Creek 
canyon shown in the foreground of 
Plate 2, A, making an unusually clean 
burn. Even the stumps and roots of 
the trees were burned, in many places 
leaving nothing but holes to indicate 
where the trees had been. The rocks 
showed marked coloring as a result of 
the heat, and the soil is now apparently 
very poor and has deteriorated, as 
evidenced by unusual coloring, a large 
amount of rock material near the 
surface,' and the short and scant 
vegetation. On a strip a mile long, 
covering an area of 4 acres, not more 
than 12 new seedlings were found. 
These were 3 white pines 2 years old, 
2 white firs, 2 Douglas firs under 4 
years, and 5 western larches 4 years 
old. On the north aspect, where the 
second fire had been less intense, were 
eight small patches of seedlings which 
had come up after the 1910 burn and 
which had escaped the 1919 fire. 
Here, as well as on the previous 
double-burned north slopes, natural 
reproduction is decidedly insufficient. 
UPPER SOUTH AND WEST ASPECTS 
The land directly to the east of 
Deep Creek slopes to the southwest 
from 4,700 feet at the top to 3,000 feet 
elevation at the river. The rise for 
the first 500 feet from the river is 
quite steep, then follows an inter¬ 
mediate benchlike slope interrupted 
by deep draws. Above 4,000 feet the 
land is again very steep. The slopes 
are uniform on the whole, and regular 
and free from debris. The soil is 
generally deep and fertile, but there 
are many barren and shallow stretches 
at the apexes of the several spurs and 
on the lower and steeper portions near 
the river. Both the 1910 and 1919 
fires played great havoc with the lower 
and upper slopes but spared several 
bodies of green trees in the principal 
draws (fig. 1). 
One count strip was run horizontally 
along the entire length of the upper 
southwest aspect, and another lower 
down, as shown on Plate 3, A. The 
counts are given in Tables II and III. 
Table III shows a total of only 14 
seedlings per acre on the upper south 
slope and 50 on the lower. As indi¬ 
cated in Table II, these seedlings are 
1 to 4 years old. Only 14 per cent on 
the upper slopes are western white 
pine. This site is directly exposed to 
the sun and wind, so that seedlings, 
especially of the white pine and west¬ 
ern larch, would be likely to dry out 
in great numbers, except those in the 
shade of logs or stumps. In fact, most 
of those found were where the slope 
swings to the northwest. 
Table II.— Reproduction count by age classes on parallel strips, double burns of 
1910 and 1919, upper and middle southwest aspects 
Age class 
Upper strip, seed¬ 
Lower strip, seed¬ 
lings per acre 
lings per acre 
Number 
o 
Per cent 
0 
Number 
4 
Per cent 
8 
2 years old...... 
4 
29 
42 
4 
4 
8 
8 
4 years old... 
4 
29 
38 
76 
Total... 
14 
100 
50 
100 
