Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-09-01
GATHERING TREE SEEDS.
GOVERNMENT is TO REPLANT
BURNED OVER DISTRICTS.
Forest Service Agent Visits DalIah
and Arranges For Collecting
Tree Cones.

Uncle Sam has taken quite a fancy
to the boys and girls living along the
timbered belt of this Coast, and is
showing it in practical way In or
der to give them a chance to earn
some Christmas money, he is going to
hire as many of them as possible to
gather tree ones for him, and is to
pay them rs cents per sack Of two
bushels. So that any young American
in this part of the country can enter
the government service at moments
notice. All that is needed is an ever
green forest, gunny sack, and a de-
termination to fill the sack.
Uncle Sans idea in making the Of
fer is to get a large quantity Of tree
seed for growing new forests where
the old forests have either been burn
ed up or cut down, and as the denud-
ed area is growing every year, he is
not in the least afraid of getting too
many cones.
Martin S. Durbin, member Of the
United States Forest Service, whose
headquarters are at Waldport, was in
Dallas Monday, making arrangements
for collecting the cones here, and in
the evening left for Falls City, where
he intended to establish another depot
for receiving them.
Dallas Receiving Station.
He appointed w. w. Ullrey to rep
resent him here and accept the sacks
of cones as they are brought into Dali
las, of the fresh, ripe seed of the
Douglas fir, sometimes called red, or
yellow, fir, and also Douglas spruce.
It is said that a boy or girl can make
from $3.50 to SO per day at the work
When collected the cones are ship
ped to Wyeth, on the Columbia river,
in Hood county, where they are dried
in a hot room and then threshed until
the seed falls out. One sack of Doug
las fir cones contains about one pound
of clean seed, which will grow APP
proximately $4,000 trees.
Something like $4,000 acres were
planted last year in the burned~over
district Of Tillamook county, and the
work will be continued in the Tilla-
nook and Siuslaw national forests
Large amounts of Eastern black wal
nuts, red oak and hickory seeds have
been planted in the vicinity of Hebo,
in Tillamook county, and 1t is reported
that the trees are now eight inches
high, and doing well.
Planting Methods.
The planting is usually done in No
vember and December. There are two
ways. One is broadcast, and the 9TH
er is by the spot method" The lat
ter consists in digging a hole with
hoe about every six feet, into which
a number of seeds are dropped and
covered 1t is preferred, as it gives
better results. A pound of seed is
enough for from two to three acres,
and a man can plant about one acre
per day.
The cones ripen from about the
first to the fifteenth of September.
Trees growing in the open usually
have more cones than those in the
dense forest, and trees with large
crowns IN Wnlcn the DIdHCHeS SAloHu
down to the ground, have the great
est quantity. Therefore, 1t is best to
look for the cones on the trees grow
ing along the side of the road in the
pasture, around the house or barn, or
in cut-over areas where a few trees
are left standing by themselves,
Cones should not be cut until they are
ripe. They turn brown when they
are, and then should be picked at
once, for within from one to three
weeks after that they open while they
are still on the trees and the seed falls
out.
The receiving agent Is not author
ized to pay cash for consignments,
but the district forester says not to
worry about that as the money will
be forthcoming as soon as the cones
are examined.
Further particulars can be obtained
from w. w. Ullrey, at Gwinn's gro
Gerry store, or from A. e. .Cahoon, su-
pervlsor Of the Siuslaw district, Eu-
gene.