The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1910-07-29
Ten Tons of Seed for Restocking
National Forests.

Washington, d. c., July 28-'rhe U.
s. Department of Agriculture is using
this year on the National Forests over
ten tons of tree seed. Most of this
seed has already been planted or sown.
Thesrest will be utilized later in the
season as favorable conditions are pre-
sented.
It takes great many tree seeds to
make ten tons. Jack pine the most
important tree for'planting in the Ne
Draska sand hills by the Forest Ser
vice will average something like l25. 600
to the pound. Of Western yellow pine,
the tree most extensively plan ted
throughput the National Forests as a
whole, 10, 200 seed will make pound.
Altogether the ten tons of seed to be
used this year represent perhaps three
hundred million single seeds.
If every seed could be depended on
to produce young tree suitable for
planting, the result would be a supply
of nursery stock sufficient to plant
trees hundred thousand acres of land,
but no such result can be looked for
because many seeds do not terminate.
Most of the seed will be- sown, either
broadcast or ia seed spots, or planted
with corn planter. directly in the
place were the trees are to stand.
y Even when nursery stock is raised
liberal allowance must De made for
loss. In the first places considerable
percentage of the seeds will be found
to oe infertile. Of these which germi
nate, many will Gle before they leave
the nursery beds, and many more will
be lost in transplanting. If from a
pound of Western yellow pine seed
that contains 10, 900 individual seeds,
1900 three-year-old transplants are
available for field planting. the Depart
nent Of Agriculture has obtained
salts C Dry results.
There are now twenty-four National
Forest nurseries with an annual pro-
ductive capacity of over eight million
saplings. But there are many mil
+ lions OF old burns on the National For
ests which are waiting to be restocked
and some quicker and cheaper method
than the actual planting of nursery
grown trees is urgently needed.
Therefore the foresters are making
experiments on large scale with
oifferert methods of direct sowing and
planting and NEST Of the seed gathered
last year was CD, aimed for this use.
Broadca-ting has already been found
to give goUc r. s Its ia some regions.
1t was hrst ,ri~o IN the Black HILLS OF
South DAKOTA, with an encouraging
outcome. To broaccSst an acre OF
laDd With yellow pine seed about Gig hit
pound + SEQ is Used. One of the
NEST tolniuabie drawbacks to this
method is tha eXteLt to~which the seed
may De consumed by birds and rodents.
Ii the season happens TO be one in
which the food for these arimals is
scarce, the less is very neavy. The
problem of control of amman pests,
such as field mice, ground squirrels
and gCpheis, which eat the tree seeos,
ana also the further problem of pre-
venting the CepreGatiOnS Of rabbits,
which are altogether too 1Ond of the
little trees themS5 Ives. whether nur-
sery transplants or field grown seed
lings, is receiving the attention of the
Biological Survey ,eXpt rts of the De-
partment of Agriculture.
In some localities the Department
has had to purchase seed. but most ut
that useo is gathered by Forest Ser
vice men themselves. The cost of
gathering has varied Tor the different
regions from thiriy-five cents to
onr dollar pound. AS arule the seed
is collected in the fall months, when
most conifers ripsn their seed. Par
ties OF three or four men ordinarily
work together. Where numbering is
in progress the collectors follow the
sawyers and take the cones directly
from the felled trees. In standing
timber. the task is 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 eytremities and beyond the reach
uf the hand, pruning shears are used.
The cones are dropped to the rgound
and then gathered into buckets and
transferred to sacks. in which they
are carried to central point for fur
Their tire atment.
The extraction of the seeds is tedi-
Gus rather than difficult. In some
cases the cones are spread out upon
sheets in the sun when, after a time,
they open and the seed drop out in
other cases it is necessary to resort
to artificial heat. This is applied by
placing the cones upon trays with
screen bottoms and raising the tenn
perature of the room to the proper de-
gree. The cones open, the winged
seeds fall out, and the seed is separat-
ed finally from the wings aud dirt by
tanning mill. A .good many seed,
nave been removed from the cone by
hanl, but this is sore trial to e
fingers of pickerS and an exceedingly