The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1908-10-07
GROWING NEW FORESTS
InDortant Work by the New York
State Forestry Department.
upSfRIfS IN ADIRONDACKS

o4ote Is PrOpagating Trees for
ln WASTE Land. Pines and Other
''.mds Grown by the Millions on
"1in Sandy Soil Enriched by APP
n Mica of Swamp Muck.
Union YOU see 10000 white pines
Wing in a space of IL feet by 4
t,st YOU have reason to hope that the
l''' ,.+od evergreen forests of this
usp ntrv may yet be renewed. You
'v stiII more hopeful when you learn
az tho state of New York is able
I' furnish young pines at 1915 a
~.nsond without losing money, and
. 's the percentage of loss from the
'D aa n the well-grown tree is very
email S writes a correspondent.
II is statistics of this kind that one
,.+bors at the state forestry depart
~ort,s nursery lying within sight of
I tbo railway station called Saranac
I'm about two miles from Saranac
T,to At this nursery and at others
noar nv under the care of the same
, a, station evergreens are grown
Nv The millions upon the thin sandy
sou of the Adirondacks enriched for
The seedlings by the application of
B swamn muck, barnyard manure and
n wood ashes.
Here grow white pine, red pine,
z Scotch pine, bull pine from the Black
u HHIs of Dakota, Norway spruce, ma
tive sDruce, tamarack, all in large
q ouantities, and a few others in ex-
detrimental numbers. A specialist,
trained at the Cornell school of for
estry, has general charge of the work
on the ground, and at the busiest
season of the year there are about
Il 1875 persons employed at the station
and in its work far or near.
Gathering the zones.
During the first three weeks of
September the evergreen seed crop is
harvested. The cones are gathered
by men who climb the trees for the
purpose Most of the cones come
3 from the Lake Champlain region,
and the native Adirondack cones are
& little used because conditions in the
region are not highly favorable to
y the Development of evergreen fruit.
The cones fetch from 25 cents to
81 bushel, according to quality
and season. If gathered too early
the seeds are apt to be immature;
il gathered too late the cones may
be opened up and shed some of their
seeds. Last year almost exactly l.
300 bushels of cones yielded nearly
l45O pounds of seed, but a pound to
the bushel is a high average, and
there are years when it requires
nearly three bushels of cones to yield
Ia pound of seed.
Ii the seeds are not too fat a
pound will yield about 10000 seeds,
50 that last years crop must have
been somewhere near 14,500,000
cells. Foreign seeds are bought at
about 1925 a pound, mostly in Scot
land and Norway.
When the cones reach the station
Fhey are placed in house that has
roof but no sides and upon shelf
IKE, Slated platforms, just far
enough one above another to permit
VI the comfortable handling of the
crop Here the cones dry for about
two weeks.
AS they begin to open they are
IaKen out a few at a time, subjected
neat, and regularly threshed with
nail such as was used two genera
ions ago to thresh wheat.
Preparing the Seeds.
When threshed out the seeds are
passed through screens so that their
wings may be taken off. The seeds
Fe then famed with an ordinary ag-
cultural fan run by hand. When
nus thoroughly cleansed they are
puV up IN tins so that they shall be
projected alike from moisture and
saporatlon and stored in an I'M
edIeu room for the winter.
III the spring the seeds are sown
ITaacaSt by hand in enriched beds
uIioSed IN wooden frames. Germi-
asiIn takes place at somewhat ir-
rSuidr intervals, often in two weeks,
n ru VI, tne tiny Seeding comes up bear
an, t'' seed on its head. Chiefly be-
cr r"e Vi thls latter fact the beds are
ttoL with wire, the meshes of
'N are too small to admit any