New Ulm review., 1910-08-10
Ten Tons of Seed for Restocking
National Forests.

The U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture is using this year on the Nation
al 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 great many tree seeds to
make ten tons. Jack pine, the most
Important tree for planting in the Ne
braska sand hills by the Forest Ser
vice, will average something like
l25, 600 to the pound. Of western yell
low pine, the tree most extensively
planted throughout the National For
ests as whole, 10000 seed will make
pound. Altogether 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
planting, the result would be 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 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
liberal allowance must be made for
loss. In the first place, a consider
able percentage of the seeds will be
found to be infertile. OF those which
germinate, many will be lost in trans
planting. If from pound of western
yellow pine seed that contains 10000
individual seeds, 1900 three year old
transplants are available for field
planting, the Department of Agricul-
ture has obtained satisfactory results.
There are now twenty-four National
nurseries with an annual productive
capacity Of over million seedlings.
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
foresters are making experiments on a
large scale with different methods of
direct sowing and planting, and most
OF the seed gathered last year was OBJ
tanned for this use.
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-fve cents to one
dollar pound. AS 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
saWyers and take the cones directly t
from the felled trees. In standing tim
ber, the task is more arduous. The
Ia0h uuSu O1tou C1lulO Gjll GlmOerS and |
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
transferred to sacks, in which thew
are carried to central point for fur
ther 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 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 tenn
perature of the room to the proper de.
gree. The cones open, the winged
seeds fall out, and the seed is finally
separated from wings and dirt by a
tanning mill. Agood many seeds have
been renewed by hand, but this is a
sore trial to the fingers of the pickers
and an exceedingly slow process.