THE EQUIPMENT AND OPERATION OF A GERMAN 

 SEED-EXTRACTING ESTABLISHMENT.* 



By Forstmeiste:r Wiebecke;. 



Translation by Sydney L. Moore. 



Among the problems that confront the practicing forester to- 

 day, whether in private, state, or federal service, is the import- 

 ant one of securing a large annual supply of seed of the desirable 

 coniferous species for his reforestation work. Extensive refor- 

 estation has been initiated within the last few years by several 

 corporations and states. The federal Forest Service in particu- 

 lar has within the last two years increased very largely the 

 amount of such work upon National Forests. The natural con- 

 sequence of this activity has been a tremendous increase in the 

 demand for forest tree seed. 



In the case of coniferous species, large quantities of seed have 

 been imported from Germany because of the lack of a sufficient 

 supply of native seed. This lack of native seed is due to the fact 

 that the forest tree seed business has not yet been developed in 

 this country to the extent necessary to supply the demand. There 

 is now a dem.and (which is going to increase constantly) for 

 coniferous seed in bulk, at a low cost, with high germinative 

 power and high purity. This means that establishments for the 

 exclusive handling of coniferous seed, according to the most ap- 

 proved methods, have got to be constructed either by private in- 

 dividuals as a commercial enterprise, or by the large private and 

 federal forest administrations to supply their own needs. At 

 present, there are very few or none of these establishments in this 

 country. 



I believe, therefore, that a description of the equipment and 

 operation of such a seed-extracting establishment, as given by 

 the German forester Wiebecke, will be of great interest to many 

 American foresters. The description which follows is a trans- 

 lation of the greater part of an article by Wiebecke, printed in the 

 "Zeitschrift filr Forst und Jagdwesen" of June, 1910. Wiebecke 



*Althoiigh this article was briefed in F. Q. Vol. VIII, p. 515, we re- 

 produce this complete translation because it covers the subject exhaust- 

 ively. 



