THE ART OF THE SECOND GROWTH 



Paragraph XII. Securing and preparing the 

 seeds. 



A. European, tree seeds are usually bought from reliable 

 dealers, who rival in furnishing the best seed at the lowest price, 

 guaranteeing a certain percentage to germinate. In America, the 

 forester must secure seeds himself, collecting them by contract, or 

 preferably, by day work. Some European sylviculturists insist that 

 seeds should be taken from the best and strongest trees exclusively. 

 Mayr considers special care superfluous. 



The experiments conducted at Trippstadt, Germany, in con- 

 nection with this problem, are of intense interest: Seeds of Pinus 

 sylvestris were obtained from Finland, Belgium, Hungary, France, 

 and Bavaria; were planted in the same nurseries; and were out- 

 planted on the same planting site, by the same workmen and at the 

 same time. After seven years from the time of planting, the planta- 

 tions made with the various local strains or varieties of one and the 

 same botanical species, Pinus sylvestris, exhibit very striking con- 

 trasts in their respective rates of growth, in their ramification, 

 in their endurance of atmospheric calamities, in the ease of sub- 

 duing the weeds surrounding the young plants, etc. 



B. By " coning " is understood the extrication of coniferous 

 seeds from the cones encasing them. "Coning" of Spruce, Pine, 

 Fir and Larch on a commercial scale is practiced in Europe by Henry 

 Keller, Appel & Co. and A. Lecoq, all of Darmstadt, Germany. 



Certain Pine species (Xutpines) have wingless seeds. The wings 

 of other Pine seeds hold the grain in a claw. 



The seed of Spruce lies in the wing as in a spoon; the seed of 

 Larch and Fir is attached to the wing and is not easily separated. 



Among the broad-leafed " cone bearers " — Alders, Birches and 

 Magnolias — the " coning " of Magnolias alone offers some difficulties. 



I. The methods of " coning " are as follows: 



a. Coning by insolation, the oldest and safest method. Trays, 

 the bottoms of which contain open lath work or wire netting, are 

 placed in the sun and removed to a shed if rain threatens to fall. 

 The cones are spread on the trays in layers not over two cones deep 

 and are stirred Avith a rake. In place of trays, drums might be used 

 to good advantage. In Xew Mexico, the cones are spread on beaten 

 «lay soil. At Biltmore, flat barn roofs have answered the purpose. 

 In a cold climate the sun process allows the seeds to be obtained 

 but at a time too late for seed planting. The germinating per- 

 centage of seeds obtained by the sun process is, otherwise, superior 

 to that of seeds coned by other methods. 

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