80 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 



The seeds which ripen in spring and early summer, 

 as those of elm, poplar, and willow, must be sown as 

 soon as ripe, for they do not retain their vitality very 

 long. 



The small cones of birch, yellow or tulip poplar, and 

 balsams fall apart easily when dry, and then the seeds 

 and scales (chaff) may be separated ; but the cones of 

 pine, spruce, larch or tamarack, hemlock, and white 

 cedars remain intact and have to be dried, preferably 

 in a warm room, until the scales open and let the seeds 

 drop out. 



After we have gathered the few kinds of seeds from 

 which we wish to raise plants we have to take care of 

 them, for seeds are not only eagerly eaten by mice, but 

 they spoil by drying out or by heating and molding. 



Different seeds behave very differently in this respect. 

 The seeds of pine, spruce, and other conifers may be kept 

 in bags hung up in a dry, cool shed, but the majority of 

 seeds of broadleaf kinds, especially all the fleshier ones, 

 are best kept in sand. 



For this purpose the bottom of an ordinary box is cov- 

 ered with a two-inch layer of sand (not dry, but moist 

 like ordinary earth); then a layer of seeds one half to 

 one inch thick is spread out on the sand ; this is covered 

 with a two-inch layer of sand, then a layer of seed, and 

 so forth. When filled the box is nailed up and may then 

 be placed in a cool cellar or else put into a pit dug in the 



