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Upper Colorado <br /> Environmental Plant Center <br /> Owned & Operated by Douglas Creek and White River SCD's <br /> 5538 R.B. Cnty. Rd. 4 Meeker, Colorado 81641 Phone: (970) 878-5003 <br /> P.O. Box 448 Fax: (970) 878-5004 <br /> March 30, 1998 <br /> Steve Renner <br /> 2148 Broadway# C5 <br /> Grand Junction CO 81503 <br /> Dear Steve; <br /> Thanks for your inquiry into the possibility of the Upper Colorado Environmental Plant <br /> Center growing Calamagrostis purpurascens for you. I was not able to find out who has worked <br /> with this particular material, but someone has because in a USDA publication it was noted as <br /> having 810,714 seeds per pound. However, I did not find information on seedling vigor, viability, <br /> dormancy, awn and callus hair removal from the seed, production potential or other such <br /> characteristics. This will be experimental for all of us, and because it produces only a single floret <br /> (flower) per spikelet, it may not be a heavy seed producer, and may infact be weak. Your <br /> feedback from your collections will be helpful. According to Hitchcock, it is only slightly <br /> rhizomatous which may help its longevity as a producer under cultivation. At 810,714 seeds per <br /> pound, which, if seeded at 60 PLS sees per square foot, calculates out to 3.2 pounds per acre <br /> from broadcast seeding. <br /> If we were able to provide 50 pounds of seed per acre, we could produce enough seed <br /> during the first year of production to seed 3 acres with a 0.2 acre planting. If we have success <br /> with establishment for 1998, we should get production up through 2002. If 2002 doesn't look <br /> like it will meet your timeline for revegetating your site, assuming we get the "bugs"worked out <br /> in 1998, we could increase the production acreage to reach your target goal sooner. <br /> As I mentioned, our production costs start at $1,000 for 0.1 acre and increase $200 for <br /> each additional 0.1 acre. If you would like to start with a .02 acre planting, we could clean the <br /> seed you collected and have it tested for purity and germination by the Colorado State Seed Lab <br /> and get it planted this spring - early summer for$1200 per year. <br /> If this sounds agreeable, let me know and we can get started with the cleaning and have <br /> the test results back around the first of May. <br /> Thanks for considering us, and if you have any questions, give us a call at (970) 878-5003. <br /> Sincerely, <br /> Steve Parr, <br /> UCEPC Manager <br />