

growth, on pasture lands, along fences, and frequently in 

 the farmers' coniferous wood reserves. The cones are hand- 

 picked, and if careful supervision is maintained the work 

 is readily adaptable to "jobbing", at a set price per 

 standard measure. The practice of branching wi th an axe 

 ia very destructive, as it takes upwards of seven years 

 for a tree to recover sufficiently to warrant picking 

 again. In contract collecting, ore must be taken to 

 forbid the practice of following loggers. Cones are 

 often picked from trees cut in the summer for pulpwood 

 purposes. Such conee are frequently very much under- 

 mature, but have an appearance almost identical with 

 that of mature cones, except that on close examination 

 the seed will be found to be of a light brown, while the 

 grain is shrivelled or completely hollow. 



Considerable di scission has arisen as 



to the age or as to a more definite determination of the 

 tree height at which cones may be collected without a 

 serious falling-off in the germination percentage. Ex- 

 perimento carried on have proved conclusively that any 

 tree of vigourous growth, and free from mechfcnical in- 

 jury, may be picked when there are sufficient onnes to 

 warrant the labour. Thus a tree bearing cones which is 



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