New-York tribune., 1910-08-21
Alert Rangers
Rapid Work in Reseedh
Burned Districts in the
Black Hills.

Dead wood, 8 ID, Aug. W.-AInoos@ :.
the ashes Of the great fires wb,ct
ragged over the Black Hills. as.,-.
thousands of acres OF primevaI min.
have grown cold, the government -
and foresters are preparing to ra.a.s
blackened mountain sides and 80
damage done by the flames IN -
watershed OF the continent. arr.. sise
rangements are being made for gafb..s !"
10000 bushels of pine cones for -.
seed. and at the proper season ,b.n.
will be strewn from one end os
over section to the othsr. +, So
Hills alone more than a tho,zars o's7
miles of pine forests have been sa..~s 'as
and before the falling snow puts A.
further fires as much more NAV ~ Ia
over.
A busheI of pine cones is vo-,s
than bushel Of potatoes The glac,, '''s r,''
are great producers OF fish potato.. a
the selling price here is 80 cents bn.sa
But bushel of good pine cones win -.
- cents when delivered at any ono ~
half dozen receiving stations whieb
government has established
In charge of the reseedIng uors =,
Black Hills are Supervisor KeIfeter q,
northern half. and Supervisor lines =.
southern district. Because Of the irou.-
area of this years devasted d.st-,c,
work this winter and next spring ,,,,
far more extensive than ever before
consequently will cost the goverprnsr,
far greater outlay than The work Of a.
former year.
But the benefits 70 he derived +, :.
future will more than Offset the sxns,.
Of the present work In addition n !.
value of the forest trees themselves :.
country will gain N the conservation
moisture. the prevention Of floods in :.
rainy season and the storing Of the sats-
for use in the dry periods
The government is advertising for an
limited number of bushels Of pine cons,
delivery 10 be made at Deadwood. Nsve,,
tie, keystone Hill city Custer and a nr.
Der of other places and storage warsho,,..
are being arranged in each Of those cisias
Should more pine seed be offered for s.A
than is needed by tae work in the Ria.
Hills they viii 6e shipped into other wsxx
ern states which have suffered from for-k
fires II
The gathering OF pine cones has beea,E
an industry in itself. and the forest ran-.,(
are encouraging men. women and cbiIdr.
20 embark therein. The cones pus,
carefully picked and sorted. as sesds
tested with insects or otherwise damaxr&
Will not be accepted. The cones n1us,.s.
delivered unopened. as the seeds freuus-,l
fall out when the cones spread Sauf-Tsst
nests are looked upon as great prizes 81
the cone pickers. as each nest will prodgsv 1
from - 10 IS worth of seed gathered by Ia
little animals and stored for winter us l
A wagon load of cones is worth betEs-I
$50 and $40 and that amount can ne "a,
cred by one person in the course d l~
weeks work Should the picker be hrse
nate and find the stores Of a number J,
squirrels he can gather wagon load
cones in two or three days.
The burned-over country contains IL
very best soil ina ginable in which to ulsss
seed. The black mountain loan is mzas
feet deep. and above this is the sht q
from the forest fires. The pine needa
lying on the ground to depth. sonetim=
of several feet burn with all the isra
ness of turpentine pine knot, leaving
ash so full of fertilizing producers ta
vegetation springs up as If ny magic e
great pine trees which have fallen in i n
forests are completely consumed. and 4
their ashes to those of the needles. i
mountain streams water the seed and
hot sun of a mountain side furnishes
much heat that all combined the eeHs
tons are ideal for the rap.t growth OF =
trees The reseeding of the mountains 8
require the time and energy Of N
army of foresters. and the work vii Z
be completed for at least year