262 NEBRASKA STATE HOUTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



state in the West for a splendid sliowing along that line, and while the 

 United States government is helping we ought to help ourselves. 



Upon some stream or on the borders of some lake the state should get 

 possession of several sections and improve them. It would pay. 



The Btjll Pine. 



We have for years maintained that the proper way to raise Bull or 

 Ponderosa pine was to raise it in the open like onions with no shelter. 

 We recommended sowing late in the fall as nature does, or very early in 

 the spring. It should come up as soon as possible. If it can put on the 

 second coat of leaves before the hot weather comes on it is immune from 

 the blight or damps. 



Frank Brown, of Paynesville, Minn., has sown under our direction for 

 several years about fifty pounds of Ponderosa seed. The stand has been 

 perfect with no damping off and now he has thousands of fine healthy 

 trees two and three years old. M. J. Stevenson, of Norris, Manitoba, got 

 4,000 plants from half a pound of seed and when two years old he trans- 

 planted them with hardly any loss. A clergyman in the sandhills planted 

 our seeds for two years and reports that a man can easily secure 6,000 

 from a pound and he should lose but few in transplanting. 



A Mr. Tilden from the sandhills came to our office last spring with a 

 broad smile on his face. He said: "I got two pounds of seed a year ago 

 and have 12,000 fine plants. I want two pounds more, and with an outlay 

 of only .$12 I will have enough to prove up on my Kinkaid section." 



VITALITY OF SEED. 



While some conifer seeds lose their vitality in a year or two, these 

 seed retain their vigor a long, time. Last spring seed three years old 

 came just as well as those gathered the fall before. A friend had some he 

 gathered ten years ago. I planted them and they came all right. 



The seed are large and are incased in a thick hard shell which keeps 

 them for an indefinite period. The Attenuata pine and the Contorta will 

 keep their seeds intact in resin sealed cones for a century until a fire 

 opens them when they fall into the ashes and spring up by the million. 

 It is important to know of the vitality of the Bull Pine seeds for they are 

 produced only once in about three years and then in large quantities. 

 Then they can be procured and stored in safety for years. 



Remember when you plant a grove of Bull Pine you plant a flock of 

 sheep and an oil well. By a recent chemical process fiber and cloth are 

 made from the long tough needles and a valuable oil is distilled from 

 them which is used in the manufacture of soaps and candles. 



