Oxford Democrat., 1910-08-02
Ten Tons of Tree Seed.


The U. S. Department of Agriculture
is using this year on the National For.
ests over ten tons of tree seed. Most of
this seed has already been planted or
sown. The rest will be utilized later In
the season, as favorable conditions are
presented.
1t takes q great many tree seeds to
make ten tons. Jack pine, the most i'm
portant tree for planting in the Nebraska
sand hills by the Forest Service, will
average something like 1850 to the
pound. OF Western yellow pine, the
tree most extensively planted through
out the National Forests as a whole,
lO, 900 seed will make pound. Alto.
gether the ten tons of seed to be used
this year represent perhaps 300 million
single seeds.
If every seed could be depended on to
produce young tree suitable for plant.
ing, the result would be a supply oi
nursery stock sufficient to plant three
hundred thousand acres of land, but nc
such result can be looked for because
many seeds do not germinate. Most OF
the seed will be sown, either broadcast
or in seed spots, or planted with corn
planter, directly In the place where the
trees are to stand.
Even when nursery stock is raised
liberal allowance must be made for loss
In the first place, considerable per
centage of the seeds will be found to be
infertile. OF those which germinate
many will die before they leave the
nursery beds, and many more will be
lost in transplanting. If from . pound
of Western yellow pine seed that con
tails 10000 individual seeds, 1000 three
year-old transplants are available fol
field planting, the Department OF Agri
culture has obtained satisfactory results
There are now twenty. four National
Forest nurseries with an annual pro
ductive capacity of over 8 million seed.
lings. But there are many millions o.
old burns on the National Forests which
are waiting to be restocked, and some
quicker and cheaper method than thu
actual planting of nursery-grown trees II
urgently needed. Therefore the forest
ers are making experiments on q large
scale with different methods OF direct
sowing and planting, and most of thu
seed gathered last year was obtained fol
this use.
Broadcasting has already been foune
to give good results in some regions. i
was a. rst tried In the Black Hills OF Soutt
Dakota, with an encouraging outcome
To broadcast an acre OF land with yellow
pine seed about 8 pounds Of seed Is used
One of the most formidable drawback
to this method is the extent to which
the seed may be consumed by birds and
rodents. If the season happens to bt
one in which food for these animals II
scarce, the loss is very heavy. The
problem of control of animal pests, sucf
as field mice, ground squirrels, ant
pophers, which eat the tree seeds, anC
also the further problem of preventing
the depredations of rabbits, which Art
altogether too fond of the little tree!
emselves, whether nursery transplants
or field.grown seedlings, is receiving th'
attention Of the Biological Survey expert
of the Department of Agriculture.
In some localities the department ha'
had to purchase seed, but most OF tina
used is gathered by Forest Service mel
themselves. The cost of gathering hal
varied for the different regions from
thirty.five cents to one dollar pound
As rule the seed Is collected In the fal
months, when most confers ripen thei
seed. Parties of three or four men ordi
narily work together. Where lumber
ing is In progress the collectors follow
the sawyers and take the cones directl!
from the felled trees. In standing tim
ber, the task ia much more arduous
The men must often climb tall pines ant
pull the cones from the branches as bes
they can. Where these are on the e1
tremitles and beyond the reach of th'
hand, pruning shears are used. Th,
cones are dropped to the ground ant
then gathered into buckets and trans
ferred to sacks, In which they are carried
to central point for further treatment
The extraction Of the seeds Is tediou
rather than difficult. In some cases th'
cones are spread out upon sheets In th'
sun, when, after q time, they open ant
the seed drop out; 10 other cases 1t Il
necessary to resort to artificial heat
This is applied by placing the Gomez
upon trays with screen bottoms anf
raising the temperature Of the room t.
the proper degree. The cones open, tb'
winged seeds fall out, and the seed II
separated finally from wings and dirt BY
q tanning mill. A good many seeds
have been removed from the cone by
hand, but this is Q sore trial to the fin
gers Of the pickers and an exceedingly
slow process.