The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-07-30
TEN TONS OF SEED FOR RAISING
Ls3gst X 81 TREES.

1tl EN- u ONS Of DEED run hNioiNS
i ri i, )ssTREES.
Uncle Sam is not going to allow
himself to run out OF timber II he can
help It by tall hustling. The Depart.
sment OF Agriculture Is using this year
on the National Forests over ten tons
Of tree seed. Most OF this seed has
y already been planted or sown. The
rest will be utilized later in the sea
son, az favorable conditions are pre-.
scented. 1t takes great many tree
seeds to make ten tons. Jack pine,
the most important tree for planting
In, the Nebraska sand hills by the For
( est Service. will average something
like 125,000 to the pound. OF West
ern yellow pine, the tree most extern
siyely planted throughout the Nation.
al Forests as a whole, 10000 seeds
win make pound. Altogether the
ten tons OF seed to be used this year
represent perhaps 300 million single
seeds. II every seed could be depend.
ed on to produce a young tree suita-
BILE for planting, the result would be n
supply of nursery stock sufficient to
plant three hundred thousand acres
OF land, but no such result can be
looked for because many seeds do not
4 terminate. 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
4 place. a considerable percentage Of
the seeds Will be found TO be infertile;
Ofsthose which terminate, many will
die before they leave the nursery
beds, and many more will be. lost In
transplanting. If, from a pound B:
I Western yellow pine seed that. con.
tains 10000 individual seeds, 1000
three.yearsold transplants are avail.
able for field planting, the Depart.
ment of Agriculture has obtained sat.
isfactory results. -
There are now twenty.four National
Forest nurseries with an annual pro.
ductive capacity of over eigth million
seedlings. But there are many mil.
lions OF old burns on the National For.
ests which are waiting to be restock.
ed, and some quicker and cheaper
method than the actual planting of
Z nursery-grown trees is urgently need.
ed. Therefore the foresters are max.
ing experiments 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 found to give good results ip
some regions. 1t was first tried in
the Black Hills OF South Dakota. with
an encouraging outcome. To broad.
csat an acre OF land with yellow pine
seed about eight pounds OF seed is
used. One OF the most formidable
drawbacks to this method is the ex,
tent to which the seed may be con.
sumed bysbirds and rodents. II 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
depredations OF rabbits. which are al.
together too fond OF the little trees
themselves, whether nursery trans.
plants or field.grown seedlings, is re.
ceiving the attention of the Biologl.
cal Survey experts OF the Department
of Agriculture.
In some localities the Department
has had to purchase seed, but most
of that used is gathered by Forest Ser.
vice men themselves. The cost OF
gathering has varied for the different
regions from thirty-five cents to one
! dollar pound. AS a rule the seed is
collected in the fall months, when
most conifers ripen their seed. Par
ties OF three or four men ordinarily
work together. Where numbering is
In, progress the collectors follow the
ssawyers and take the cones directly
Z from the felled trees. In standing
timber, the task is much more ardu.
Gus. The men must often climb tall
pines and pull the cones from the
branches as best they can. Where
these are on the extremities and be.
yond the reach of the hand, pruning
shears are used. The cones are drop:
( ped to Nhe ground and then gathered
into buckets and transferred to sacks.
in which they are carried to a cen.
( trail point for further treatment.
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 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
degree. The cones open, the winged
seeds fall out, and the seed is sepa.
rated finally from wings and dirt by
q tanning mill. A good many seeds
have been removed from the cone by
hand, but this is a Sore tfiarito the