Bisbee daily review., 1909-04-27
DIFFICULT TO
 PRODUCE HE
 YELLOW PINE

ALBUQUERQUE. N NJ, April 26.- A study of conditions in the yellow pine forests of the southwest, made dur ng the past season by the Unit cd States forest service at the re- gently established Coccnino forest experiment station, has brought ou. very strikinglv the difficulty of SC curing natural reproduction in this type of forest.
 Tn northern Arizona, perhaps at least half of the forest is. without young growth of any k'nd. and old cuttings are frequently barren wastes. The most important factors in bring ing this about are the climate. fire, methods of cutting, disposal Of brush and grazing; in most eases two or more of these factors work together in preventing reproduction
 Climate conditions. even when they do not injuriously affect the old CT trees, are apt to be especially un- favorable for the establishment of good crop of seedlings. and curisIsly enough, in a region noted for it's heat and aridity, frost is one of the most serious enemies of the young growth The rainfall is very uneven ly distributed throughout the year and while in most of the yellow pine ! regon 1t probably averages about twenty inches. this comes mainly in midsummer and winter
 Spring is the most arid season of the year. and it is almost impossible for seedlings to get started then. The result is that a majority of the seeds germinate during August. and not having time to fully complete the seasons growth, are killed by early | fall frosts. Foresters who had pre- viously investigated this problem had realized in a general way the import ance of frost. but it was not until actual experiments by means of sam pie plots were made that this point was definitely settled.
 Owing to the extremely trying eli matic conditions. some protection to the young seedlings for the first year or two is necessary. Consequently light cuttings are favorable, and the disposal of brush sby scattering rath- CT than by burning helps to protect ! the seedlings from the weather. The greater part of the region Is quite heavily grazed, and experiments have shown tha. sheep. in particular. do 6 great deal of damage to young seed lIings. Sample counts showed that 1 within a pasture from which sheep
 were excluded. only 5.4 per cent of the young trees were injured by the 1 gTaz'ng of burros and cattle, while immediately outside of this same pasture, where the sheep were allow ed to run at will. 2S.2 per cent of the young growth was damaged. Trees Iup to 3 or feet in height are apT
 to be injured in this way. but the full extent of the damage is often lnot realized. since the inconspicuous
 young seedlings are damaged most
 severely Fires. of course, complete fly destroy young growth on burned areas. and their prevention Is abso Iluteiy necessary if satisfactory sec ond crop is to be secured
 While the study has not yet beer completed, the preliminary results
 are of great practical interest and
 value, and point to the methods ol
 management which must be used ir th's type of forest. Light outlines disposal of the brush by Hopping and scattering. and the exclusion of sheer , until the cut-over areas have sat
 isfactory young growth, seem to offel
 the best means of furnishing a suffi
 cient supply os seed and of protectini ] the young growth from unfavorabl' : weather conditions and from destruc
 ton by grazing.