FOREST TREE SEED AND SEED COLLECTING 157 



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them. 1 This method of seed separation is very satisfactory with 

 white pine and other species with large cones. Hemlock, arbor-vitse 

 and red spruce cones may be placed in partially filled sacks as soon 

 as dried and agitated by flailing them first on one side and then 

 on the other. The sacks are later emptied on a table covered 

 with a wire screen through which the seed passes, after which the 

 empty cones are discarded. 2 



The "cone shaker" is a practical device for separating the seed 

 from the cones. This is a square or rectangular box sufficiently 

 large to hold several bushels of cones. The top is formed from 

 slats spaced wide enough to permit the passage of the unopened 

 cones and covered with a wire screen through which the seed will 

 pass. A heavy iron rod extends through the center of the box 

 and projects at either end. It rests upon two uprights and has a 

 handle at one or both ends. The dried cones are shoveled into 

 the box one or two bushels at a time, the door is closed, and the 

 seed rattled from the open cones by several turns of the handle. 

 After the seed is removed from the canvas spread beneath the 

 shaker the wire screen is taken off and the shaker again revolved 

 in order to separate the opened from the unopened cones. The 

 unopened cones are subjected to further drying and the opened 

 cones discarded. 3 A series of slats rigidly nailed lengthwise in the 

 shaker increases the jarring effect. This method of removing seed 

 from dried cones is relatively inexpensive and has been extensively 

 used in the U. S. Forest Service, where the cones have been dried 

 by solar heat (Fig. 28). 



In modern seed-extracting plants the seed is separated from the 

 opened cones by passing it through a "cone churn" or "revolving 

 shaker." In its simplest form it is a cylinder, 16 feet long and 

 4 feet in diameter, covered with a wire screen of from ^- to f- 

 inch mesh, depending upon the size of the seed. A shaft extends 

 through the center of the cylinder, upon which it revolves by hand 

 or mechanical power. One end of the cylinder is raised 6 to 8 inches 

 above the other. As the cones are dried, they are conveyed into the 



1 Pettis, C. R. : How to grow and plant conifers in the northeastern states. 

 (U. S. Forest Service, Bui. 76. 1909.) 



2 Ibid.: The gathering of spruce seed. (New York Forest, fish and game 

 commission, 8th annual report. 1903.) 



3 Cox, W. T. : Reforestation on the national forests. (U. S. Forest Service, 

 Bui. 98. 1911.) 



