156 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



used in drying cones. Large quantities of cones can be dried at 

 one time at a comparatively low cost and, as facilities are afforded 

 for the regulation of both temperature and humidity, the quality 

 of the seed should not suffer. 



22. SEPARATING THE SEED FROM DRY CONES 



In curing and drying cones only part of the seeds become 

 detached. Some cones when thoroughly dried require only 

 a thorough raking to dislodge the seed, as in western yellow 

 pine and white pine. Other cones require prolonged and severe 

 jarring. Many methods have been devised for separating the seed 

 from the open cones after drying. The more completely the 

 cones open under the action of heat, the easier and more com- 

 plete the seed separation. No method of separation will recover 

 all the seed. From 2 to 10 per cent usually remain in the 

 cones. The percentage of seed recovery is largely dependent upon 

 the method of shipment and storage of the cones prior to drying. 

 MacDaniels 1 reports that the cones of Douglas fir which were 

 received wet and stored in sacks for several weeks would not open 

 even after being repeatedly run through the kiln. 



The seed must be quickly removed from the cones after taking 

 it from the kiln or else the extracting room must be kept warm. 

 If the cones are brought into contact with cool or damp air after 

 their removal from the kiln they are likely to close in a short time 

 and make extraction difficult. In all methods of seed extraction 

 the utmost care must be taken not to injure the seed by crushing. 

 Coniferous seed is easily crushed or cracked, thus offering entrance 

 for infection or causing abnormal development on germination. 

 Wiebecke, 2 from numerous tests made at Eberswalde, shows that 

 when the testa of pine seed is crushed or cracked the embryo in- 

 stead of coming out normally, i.e., with root foremost, comes from 

 the seed coats with the cotyledons foremost. Such plants are 

 useless. 



When the cones are fully open they may be transferred to a 

 room with a tight floor and flailed until the seed is separated from 



1 MacDaniels, E. H.: Operation of the Wyeth seed-kiln. Manuscript. 

 1912. 



2 Wiebecke, Forstmeister: Die Anwendung neuen Erkennens und Konnens 

 auf die Kiefernsamendarre. (Zeitschrift f. Forst- u. Jagdwesen, S. 342-360. 

 1910.) 



