492 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



acres, to the Siskiyou from the Klamath 

 352.000 acres in connection with which were 

 added 13,755 acres to the Sisltiyou; from the 

 Umpqua to the Cascade 168,503 acres, to the 

 Paulina 306,149 acres; from the Wallowa to 

 the Minam 448,330 acres; from the Whit- 

 man to the Umatilla 276,170 acres; and 

 from the Umatilla to the Malheur 179,550 

 acres, to the Umatilla from the Whitman 

 276,170 acres. Eliminations from the for- 

 ests in Oregon occurred as follows: 320 

 acres of patented land from the Chelan, 

 27,931 acres from the Crater, 32,935 acres 

 from the Deschutes, 10,606 acres from the 

 Oregon, 9,610 acres from the Siskiyou, and 

 44,414 acres from the Umpqua. The lands 

 embraced within these eliminations consist 

 of many small bodies lying along the bor- 

 ders of the various forests which upon ex- 

 amination were found to be non-forest lands 

 or patented lands that could well be ex- 

 cluded from the forests. 



Seed Collecting on the Kaibab 



Since the coniferous trees growing on the 

 national forests do not as a rule reproduce 

 themselves from sprouts, all nursery work, 

 planting and sowing in this district, must 

 begin with the seed. Until there is seed 

 nothing can be done in the way of reforesta- 

 tion. A large quantity of seed economically 

 collected is therefore the foundation of all 

 subsequent work. 



CONDITIONS FOB COLLECTIONS. 



Ideal collecting aims at obtaining the 

 largest quantity of seed in the shortest pos- 

 sible time and at the least cost per pound, 

 using the funds available for the purpose. 

 It is evident, therefore, that the best col- 

 lecting can be accomplished only when 

 there is a full seed crop. It is possible to 

 find a few cones every year. At intervals 

 of two or three years, a species will produce 

 an unusually heavy crop. "Seed years" 

 and "off years" and general and alternate 

 in case of Yellow Pine and Douglas Fir, 

 thus 1907 and 1909 were good years for 

 Douglas Fir while 1906 and 1908 were good 

 years for Yellow Pine. The seed crop from 

 the forester's standpoint is not abundant 

 unless the supply of cones is sufficient to 

 make seed collecting profitable. Forest offi- 

 cers occasionally report good seed crops 

 when this is not the case. Frequently poor 

 crops are reported when collecting could 

 be well done with profit. A careful exam- 

 ination of extensive bodies of timber is 

 necessary to determine the abundance of 

 the seed crop and also to determine the 

 best localities for collecting. During "off 

 years" cones are much more liable to be 

 affected by insects than during good seed 

 years. It is, however, always necessary 

 to examine them before arrangements for 

 collecting have been completed. This can 

 readily be done by peeling off the scales 

 with a sharp knife, cutting toward the 



apex of the cone. The fertility of the seed 

 can also be determined in this way. If an 

 abundance of cones of good quality are 

 found in a given locality, collecting becomes 

 a question mainly of time, method and or- 

 ganization. Seed collecting consists in 

 gathering the cones as soon as the seed is 

 ripe, in drying them out so as to release the 

 seed, and in cleaning and storing the seed 

 for use. 



TIME FOB COLLECTIONS. 



Before proceeding with the details of col- 

 lecting, it is necessary to find out when the 

 seed is ripe. This is more difficult than 

 one would think. Cones of the same spe- 

 cies ripen first at the lower altitudes. The 

 external appearance of the cones seems to 

 indicate very little. It is necessary to open 

 them as above stated and to examine the 

 seed itself. As long as the seed is soft and 

 milky, it is still immature. It is consid- 

 ered safe to commence collecting as soon as 

 the squirrels begin to store the cones for 

 food, about September 1. Heavy frosts, 

 followed by warm days, materially hasten 

 the ripening of the cones and consequently 

 lessens the time during which collecting 

 from the trees can take place. It is read- 

 ily seen, if seed is ripe on September 1, 

 and the cones open by September 15, that 

 the period of collecting is necessarily 

 short. For this reason it is Imperative that 

 the equipment be obtained early in fall, 

 that the work be organized on a scale suf- 

 ficiently large and that it be expedited in 

 every way possible so that it will be com- 

 pleted before the cones open, and before dis- 

 agreeable weather makes drying difficult or 

 impossible. 



METHODS OF COLLECTING. 



There are three methods of collecting 

 cones (a) from felled trees, (b) from stand- 

 ing trees, (c) from squirrels' caches. In 

 places where timber scales are in operation 

 and a species, the seed of which is desired, 

 is being logged at the right time, and a 

 sufficient number of trees are out, it may 

 be preferable to follow the cutters and to 

 pick out the cones from the felled trees or 

 from the ground after the brush has been 

 piled. Where no cutting is done and no 

 easier method of collecting can be found, 

 it will be necessary for the collectors to 

 climb trees. In that case the more limby 

 trees are generally selected and the cones 

 are picked and stripped off by hand. The 

 limbs may also be lopped off, and the 

 branches snapped off by means of hooks 

 fastened to poles. In several instances, 

 special trees have been cut down for the 

 sale of their cones supply. This, however, 

 is not desirable unless the trees bear an 

 unusually large quantity and unless they 

 can be spared and profitably disposed of. 

 Picking from standing trees at best is 

 difficult and expensive. Cones can easily 

 be obtained economically by robbing the 



