Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-31
Department of Agriculture Will
Use Over 300,000,000
Tree Seeds This Year
PLANT PINE IN SAND HILLS
Make Liberal Allowance for Loss
in Nursery Stock and
in TranspIanting
Especial to The Heraldl

WASHINGTON, D. c., July S0.-The
United States department of agricul-
ture is using this year on the national
forests 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 favor
able conditions are presented.
1t takes a great many tree seed to
make ten tons. Jack pine, the most
important tree for planting in the Ne
braska sand hills by the forest serv-
ice, will average something like 125 900
to the pound. OF western yellow pine,
the tree most extensively planted
throughout the national forests as a
whole, 10000 seed will make a pound.
Altogether the ten tons of seed to be
used this year represent perhaps 300,-
100000 single seed.
NEED CHEAPER METHOD
If every seed could be depended on
to produce a young tree suitable for
planting, the result would be a supply
of nursery stock sufficient to plant
100000 acres of land, but no such re-
suit can be looked for because many
seed do not germinate. Most of the
seed will be soWn, either broadcast or
in seed spots, or planted with a corn
planter, directly in the place where
the trees are to stand.
Even when nursery stock Is raised a
liberal allowance must be made for
loss. In the first place, a consider
able percentage of the seed 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 a pound of western yellow pine
seed that contains 10000 individual
seeds, 1000 3-year-old transplants are
available 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 100000 seed
lings But there are many millions of
old burns on the national forests 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 for
esters are making experiments on
large scale with different methods of
direct sowing and planting, and most
of the seed gathered last year was OBJ
tained for this use.
Broadcasting has already been found
to give good results in some regions.
1t was first tried in the Black Hills of
South Dakota, with an encouraging
outcome. To broadcast an acre of land
with y6llOW pine dDOuI . pOulluS Ol SSSu
are used. One of the most formidable
drawbacks to this method is the extent
to which the seed may De 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 ami
NAL pests, such as field mice, ground
squirrels and gophers, which eat the
tree seeds. and also the further prob
lem of preventing the depredations of
rabbits, which are altogether too fond
of the little trees themselves, whether
nursery transplants or field-groWn
seedlings, is receiving the attention of
the biological survey experts of the
department of agriculture.
FOREsTERs GATHER SEED
In some localities the department has
to purchase seed, but most of,that used
is gathered by the forest service men
themselves. The cost of gathering has
varied for the different regions from 30
cents to 81 a pound. AS a rule the
seed is collected in the fall months,
when most conifers ripen their seed.
Parties of three or four men ordinarily
work together. While numbering is in
progress the collectors follow the saw
yers and take the cones directly from
the fallen trees. In standing timber,
the task is much more arduous. The
Ilen must bllcll CliIliD ltIii pliiCS anu
pull the cones from the branches as
best they can. Where these are on the
extremities and beyond the reach OF
the hand, pruning shears are used. The
cones are dropped to the ground and
then gathered into buckets and trans
ferred to sacks, in which they are car
ried to a central point for further treat
ment.
The extraction of the seeds is tedious
rather than difficult. In some cases
the cones are spread out upon sheets in
the sun, when after a time they open
and the seeds 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 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 a tanning mill good
many seeds have been removed from
the cone by hand, but this is a sore
trial to the fingers of the pickers and
an exceedingly slow process.
Aa-.NIArn EnnNR hMn