Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1913-01-25
CUSTER'S CONE PLANT
Forest Service Has Extracted Eleven
Thousand Pounds Of Seed From
5000 Bushels Of Cones.

Thousand Pounds OF Seed From
5000 Bushels Of Cones.
The Forest Service has just finished
the work of extracting the seed from
5000 bushel of Western Yellow Pine
cones which were purchased this fall
from the settlers throughout the Harney
Forest. The work has been in progress
for the last three or four months and ap.
proximately 1000 pounds of clean seed
have been obtained at cost of approxi-
mately fifty cents per pound. This has
necessitated the expenditure of nearly
sc, 10000 on the part of the Forest Ser
vice. This expense is necessary in or
der to reforest the numerous barren
spots which have resulted from careless
numbering and forest fires. Large sums
are expended annually by the Forest
Service to plant areas which have been
denuded and made worthless by des-
tructive Forest fires. As much of this
seed as is necessary to plant 600 acres on
the Harney Forest, will be retained for
local use, while the rest will be shipped
to other Forests in the West. 30 Custer
is Of considerable Importance as a pine
seed distributing point.
A person who has not visited this in
teresting little cone plant has no idea OF
the amount of work which Is necessary
to get the seed out of the cone and free
from dirt and other foreign matter. The
work may be divided into four distinct
operations, viz:
W. Opening the cones.
(2). Threshing the seed out of the
cones.
(3). Getting the wings loosened from
the seed.
(4). Separating the seed from the
wings, pieces of broken cone and from
dirt and resin.
To carry on these operations, six men
are employed who work in pairs on
shifts of eight hours each. One crew
goes on at eight o'clock in the morning
and works until four in the afternoon,
at which time another crew starts in and
keeps the work going until midnight,
when the graveyard" shift comes on
and works until eight o'clock in the
morning.
During the first part of the fall, while
the warm weather lasted, the cones W ere
opened in the sun by spreading them
out on canvass sheets. This is the
cheapest method, but as the weather got
cold, kiln drying had to be resorted to.
The kiln consists of an air tight room SO
feet long, 8 feet wide and feet high,
with wide swinging doors at each end.
An average temperature of ITO degrees
is maintained in the kiln by means Of
steam which is piped over from the
Electric Light plant. The cones are
placed on wire mesh trays which are
piled up on little cars and run into the
kiln on steel rails. The kiln holds lC
cars and each car holds Is bushels oi
cones, 80 that $50 bushels of cones are
being dried at one time. 1t takes about
SO hours for the cones to open complete.
ly. Every time car is taken out of the
mouth of the kiln, another car is pushed
in at the other end. Thus the kiln ID
always full. On an average, a car il
taken out of the kiln every three hours
but this depends on the condition o
the cones, some opening more rapidly
than others.
When completely open, the cones are
ready to be threshed. This is accom-.
plished by throwing them into one end
of cylinder l6 feet long, which is re-
volved by means of a gasoline engine
This churns and threshes the cones
about and jars out the seed. The cylin-
der slants little bit so that the cone,
gradually work toward the exit end
where the cones fall out. Two or three
feet from the exit end, however, the
cones pass over 4 inch mesh hardware
cloth, which allows the seed to droE
through into tanning mill, and as ths
empty cones pass on out of the shaker
they fall into a funnel-shaped box and
pass into the mouth of the blower, W hich
carries them over through large pipe
into the furnace room of the lighting
plant, where they are burned.
The seed is still mixed with pieces OF
broken cones and the wings are still to
be removed. To remove these, the seed
is put in the "agitator," local inven'
ton, where four paddles tipped with
leather rub it around over a surface oi
tin for about five minutes until all the
wings are loosened. 1t then remains
for the seed to be separated from these
broken wings and other substances which
remain. This is done by the tanning
mill which separates the seed from the
dirt by means of a series of sieves with
holes of varying sizes and a fan which
creates current of air and blows the
light substances and wings away. The
seed is fairly clean but is run through
the tanning mill a second time to insure
absolute purity. 1t is then weighed and
sacked, ready for shipment or storage
until early spring, when planting opera
tions are started.
From the success obtained this year
in producing seed at a much less cost
than has ever before been obtained in
any quantity in this country, it is Ger.
tain that new and permanent industry
has been established in Custer. 1t 10
certain that the industry will grow, and
as it is necessary in the future to annual
ly plant larger areas to forest trees, q