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21 <br />• Treatment 1: 15 cm of topsoil + straw mulch <br />Treatment 2: No topsoil + excelsior mulch <br />Treatment 3: No topsoil + straw mulch <br />All treatments were fertilized with 66 kg N per hectare and 220 kg P205 <br />per hectare, which was raked into the soil. The plots were broadcast seeded <br />at a rate of 43 kg of pure live seed per hectare (1450 PLS per m2). The <br />seeding mixture is included in Table 6. Seeding was performed in late <br />October 1977. Mulch was applied as either straw or as excelsior mat. <br />Straw was applied at 2240 kg/ha and secured in place with a woven wood <br />matting. <br />Results and Discussion <br />Main Plot <br />The vegetation of the Purgatoire River Valley surrounding the Allen <br />Mine is dominated by grasses in pastures and meadows. Within the Main <br />Plot, grasses were found to be the principle component of the seeded vege- <br />tation. Grasses comprised 70 percent of the total canopy cover, forbs <br />accounted.for 4.1 percent of the canopy cover, shrubs contributed less <br />than one percent, and invading species totaled 1.2 percent of the cover. <br />Total cover for all species averaged 17.2 percent. The orasses, (orbs, <br />and shrubs showing the best growth are found in Table 7 . <br />Mulched treatments were higher in values for cover and density than <br />the unmulched treatment and controls. Mulch appears to enhance the growth <br />of seeded species by decreasing the evaporation of moisture from the soil <br />surface, reducing randrop splash erosion, increasing water infiltration, <br />• hindering the growth of invading species and moderating surface tempera- <br />tures. Treatment 7 (66 kg N/ha with straw mulch) provided vegetation with <br />