The Coconino sun., 1920-09-03
FORT VALLEY FOREST
 EXPERIMENT STATION

forestation; normal rate of growth
 and decay; influence of the forest on climatic conditions, the melting of
 snow and surface runoff; and lastly a
 study attempting to ascertain the
 growth requirements of all the more
 important trees in the southwest.
 ] Attempts at artificial reforestation
 met with consistent failure everywhere
 in Arizona and New Mexico prior to 1910. Investigations by the Fort Val ley Experiment Station proved that methods by which the seed is planted directly in the field are too uncertain, but that success can be attained by
 setting out nursery grown trans
 plants. It was found that the coni- ferrous stock produced by commercial
 nurseries could not withstand the ex-
 treme climatic conditions of the south
 west, and that it was necessary to use stock which was not only acclimated,
 but also equipped with the right kind
 of root system. After years of ex- perimentation, transplants were pro-
 duced in the nursery at Fort Valley
 which withstood field planting with
 very little loss. Since then successful
 plantations aggregating several hun
 dred acres have been established on
 the Coconino national forest in Ari-
 zona and the Gilla and Santa Fe na-
 tional forests in New Mexico. These
 plantations are not confined to pine,
 but also deal with the reforestation
 of fir and spruce burns in the high
 mountains. On account of the high
 cost of planting incident to the dry
 climate and stony soil, coupled with
 the slow growth and consequent low f.
 nancial returns, planting is not being extensively practiced in the south west at the present time. It is regard ed as an auxiliary measure to be ap- piled where natural reproduction is unpromising, as for example, where fire or destructive numbering has re- moved the seed trees. In this role, planting will eventually assume an important place in the management of our forests. h
 By means of permanent sample plots it is possible to maintain an &C., curate record of what actually takes place in the forest, so that after 10, 20 or 30 years complete and authentic history of areas under observation be- comes available. From 1909 to 1913 AZ plots having total area of 1896 acres were established on six national forests in Arizona and New Mexico. Each plot is mapped to scale, showing the exact location of every tree, group of seedlings, stumps, logs, brush piles and other features. The diameter, height and full description of every tree is recorded by number. Periodic show the rate of growth as we'll as death or injury from light ming, windfall, insects, disease and other agencies. Annual examinations on a number of plots furnish a record of the occurrence of seed crops, germ ination and survival of seedlings un- der various conditions. These plots, the oldest of which were established II years ago, are already welding a mass of information obtainable by no other means; but the records become more valuable each year, and it is only after 20 or more years that anything full returns will be real ized.
 Records in the forest and in ad- joining open areas have shown that the forest greatly reduces wind and l evaporation, and modifies the extreme of temperature, particularly low tenn perature. Snow melts more rapidly in the forest than in the open during the 1 winter, but less rapidly in the spring. ! The result is less torrential but more | sustained surface runoff and less ero- sion on forested than on non-forested areas.