The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1910-08-06


loss. In tho first place, considerable
percentage OF the seeds will be found
to be inferliIe.
on those which terminate. many will
die before they leave the nursery beds.
and many more viii be lost in trans
planting II from pound or Western
yellow pine sead that contains 10, 900
individual seeds. 1000 three year old
transplants are available for field plant
INK. the Department OF Agriculture has
obtained satisfactory results.
There are now twenty -four National
Forest nurseries with an annual pro-
ductive capacity OF over a million
seedlings But there are many mil
lions OF old burns on tho National For
est which are waiting TO be restocked,
and come quicker and cheaper method
than the actual planting OF nursery
grown trees is urgently needed. There
fore the foresters are making expert
ments on large scale with different
methods of direct sowing and planting.
and most OF the seed gathered last year
was obtained for this use.
Broadcasting has already been fount
TO give good results in some regions
Ii was first tried in the Black Hills of
South Dakota, with an encouraging
outcome To broadcast an acre of
land with yellow pine seed about :
pounds of seed Is used. One Of the
most formidable drawbacks to this
method is the extent to which the seed
may be consumed by birds and rodents
If the season happens TO be- one in
which food for these animals is scarce,
the loss Is very heavy. The problem
of control of animal pests, such as field
mice. ground squirrels and gophers.
which eat the tree seeds. and also the
further problem of preventing the de-
predations Of rabbits, which are alto
gether too fond Of the little trees them
selves. whether nursery transplants or
field grown seedlings, is receiving the
attention of the Biological Survey OK
perts of the Department of Argicul-
ture.
In some localities the Department
has had to purchase seed, but most Of
thar seed is gathered by Forest Service
men themselves. The cost OF gathering
has varied for the different regions
from thirty-hve cents to one dollar a
pound. AS rule the seed is collected
in the fall months. when most conifers
ripen their seed. Parties,of three or
four men ordinarily work together
Where numbering is in progress the col
lectors follow ths sawyers. and take
the cones directly from the felled trees
In standing timber. the task is much
more arduous The men must often
climb tall pines and pull the cones
from the branches as best they can
Where these are on the extremities aud
beyond the reach OF the hand, the
pruning shears are used. The cones
are dropped TO the ground and then
gathered into buckets and transferred
| W ohNhns III WhlAh lut1 hIt NdIIieu W
a central point for further treatment
The extraction of the seeds is tedious
rather than difficult In some cases
the cones are spread ont upon sheets in
the sun, when. after a time, ihsy open
and the seed drop out in other cases IL
Is necessary to resort to artificial heat
This is applied by placing the cones
upon trays with screen bottoms and
raising the temperature Of the room TO
the proper degree. The cones open,
the winged seeds fall out, and the seed
is separated finally from wings and
dirt by tanning mill. A good many
seeds have been removed from the cone
by hand, but this is sore trial to the
fingers Of the pickers and an exceed
ingly slow process.