222 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [SEPTEMBER 



Most of the seeds are collected by Mexican women and children, 

 who usually spread a sheet or blanket on the ground and then shake 

 or pound the tree and its branches until the seeds fall from the open 

 cone. Later in the season, the seeds are picked up by hand from the 

 ground beneath the trees. In the best part of the seed harvest, 

 enough are gathered by single families to be sold by the grain bag 

 full or the wagon load. Since the Mexicans take almost no precau- 

 tions against the spreading of smallpox, it is said that the worst 

 ravages of the disease occur during a seed year of the pifion. Single 

 dealers have been reported as having bought 9000 to 2i,5oo kg (20,000 

 to 50,000 pounds) . The delicate flavor of the seed makes it a favorite, 

 and an extensive market is being rapidly developed for it. During 

 seed years the native collectors sell it at the rate of five to fifteen cents 

 per pound, according to the ease of collecting the seed and the prox- 

 imity of the market, while dealers in many of our cities sell the seed 

 at a rate of forty to sixty cents per pound. 



REPRODUCTION 



Natural reproduction is limited because of the infrequency of seed 

 years, unfavorable climatic conditions, infertility of seed, rapidity 

 with which the seed loses its germination power, loss of seed eaten 

 by rodents, birds, and man, and unfavorable site-conditions. Glazing 

 interests are also a factor in limiting the reproduction of the species, 

 since sheep, cattle, and goats are grazed throughout its entire distri- 

 bution. It is apparent to even the casual observer that extremely large 

 areas are not reproducing themselves, yet owing to the difficulties of 

 site and the methods by which the tree may be reproduced, the prob- 

 lem of reproduction is an extremely difficult one, and one for which, 

 at the present time, no adequate solution can be offered. 



FUTURE MANAGEMENT 



From the nature of the stand in the southwest, it is apparent that 

 clear cutting would not be an advisable system, because of the exposure 

 of the site and the difficulties of restoring the stand. On the other 

 hand, the large amount of seed consumed by man and other agencies 

 makes natural seeding exceedingly difficult, and even though grazing 

 and fire are entirely eliminated^ it is doubtful if satisfactory reproduc- 



