FOKEST EXTENSION. 17 



riaily hasten the ripening and consequently lessen the time for col- 

 lection. It is therefore imperative that the equipment be obtained 

 in advance and that the work be expedited in every way possible 

 so that it will be completed before the cones open and before bad 

 weather makes drying difficult or impossible. 



Cones may be collected from felled or standing trees and from 



squirrel caches. Trees should not be cut unless they 



to* 6 1 can be profitably disposed of. Where no cutting is 



being done and no better method can be found, seed 



may be obtained from standing trees. The cones can be picked or 



stripped off by hand or cut from the branches by a heavy knife 



or pruning shears. 



Cones can be obtained easily and economically from squirrel 

 caches, which are generally in the denser stands of timber, either 

 along small streams and wet places, in water and muck, under bushes 

 and fallen tree tops, and along rotten logs. 



When extensive collecting is undertaken, it is often advisable to 

 use several or all of the above methods. It is usually cheapest to 

 collect cones by contract at a stipulated price per hundredweight or 

 bushel. 



If cones which open easily are collected early, and good drying 



weather prevails, it is unnecessary to use artificial 



heat unless the work is unavoidably delayed. Such 



cones should, after being thoroughly cleaned of dirt and needles, be 



spread thinly upon canvas sheets or burlaps and allowed to dry in 



the sun in open places with southern exposure. After the soil becomes 



cold and wet a raised platform for the canvas is necessary. 



It is generally necessary to dry resistant cones, like those of lodgepole 



Artificial methods P* 116 ' ^ v artificial heat. A suitable building should be 



selected or constructed with tiers or trays from 8 to 



10 inches apart arranged around the inside of the room. The trays 



should be constructed with screen bottoms having a suitable mesh 



through which the seed can drop upon a canvas sheet on the floor. 



The temperature of the room should be maintained at 120 to 140 



until the cones have opened. Partial ventilation to carry off moisture 



is necessary. 



With the less resistant species a vigorous shaking of the opened 

 Extractin seed cones m a screen tray or a thorough raking is suffi- 

 cient to separate the seed. With the more resistant 

 cones, especially if large quantities are to be handled, a revolving 

 "cone shaker" should be constructed from rough lumber or a dry- 

 goods box, about 4 by 3 by 3 feet, provided with a door and with 

 openings covered by wire screen having a mesh of sufficient size to 

 permit only the seed to pass through. Slats may be nailed length- 

 wise inside the apparatus, or loose blocks of wood included with the 

 cones, to increase the jarring effect. Trampling the cones is liable 

 to injure the seed. 



The best method of separating the wings from seed is by briskly 



cieanin seed rubbing a small quantity in a tray, with a bottom of 



J or inch mesh wire screening suited to the size of 



the seed. Seed should not be beaten or rubbed so violently as to 



crack the coats. A fanning mill fitted with screens of suitable size 



is one of the best means of winnowing. When this is not obtainable, 



good results can be secured by slowly pouring the seed from one box 



5275 11 3 



