DISPOSAL OF SEEDS. 693 



Forest seeds are used almost exclusively for raising plants ; 

 for other commercial purposes, only a fraction of the seeds 

 are employed. Beechnuts are used for preparing salad oil. 



Thus in the Foret de Ketz, in 1898, salad oil valued at 

 6,000 was obtained from beechnuts, besides 300 bushels of 

 seed being sent to other State forests and sufficient seed 

 reserved to restock the felling- areas. An acre of beech 100 

 years old produces about 20 bushels of clean nuts, worth 2s. a 

 bushel, from which 100 Ibs. of oil can be made, the nuts 

 containing 15 to 17 per cent, of oil. The nuts are swept up 

 from under the trees, sifted, sorted, dusted and dried slowly ; 

 cold pressure is applied to extract the oil. Tr.] 



In forests, where chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts are pro- 

 duced, the production of the nuts may surpass in value that 

 of the timber, 



Formerly pannage, in which acorns, beech and other seeds 

 were eaten in the forest by pigs, was carried on extensively in 

 European forests, This mast of fruits was distinguished from 

 earth-mast, in which worms, larvre and pup% of insects, 

 fungi, roots of weeds, etc, were utilised. Full-mast gave 

 enough acorns, etc., to fatten the pigs ; this required 66 days 

 feeding, when every pig ate daily 12 litres of acorns or 16 

 litres of beechnuts. Half-mast sufficed to feed the pigs, 

 without fattening them. Owing to the rarity of seed-years 

 and the damage done to young crops by the pigs, also to 

 danger from swine fever, when pigs are admitted promiscuously 

 into a forest, pannage has now become rare. When there is a 

 plentiful seed-year, it may be leased, or given as a privilege to 

 poor people. The question, whether the admission of pigs 

 may be silviculturally beneficial, by breaking up too dense a 

 layer of dead leaves and moss and exposing the mineral soil 

 in woods ready for natural regeneration, also for destroying 

 mice and insect-larva, can be decided only for certain localities. 

 [In the New Forest, in a good mast year about 5,000 swine 

 are admitted. Near Windsor acorns are collected in baskets 

 and sold at Is. per bushel to farmers for feeding pigs. Tr.] 



