AMERICAN SYLVICULTURE 



b. Coning by stove heat. 



It is essential that the heat in the coning room should not 

 reach 110 degrees. Thorough ventilation is required to prevent 

 sweating and moulding of cones. The cones are spread in the 

 coning-room in tliin layers on shelves or screens, through the inter- 

 stices of which the seeds drop. The cones are stirred three or four 

 times a day. 



It is unwise to have the stove in the coning-room. An American 

 Kot-air furnace in the basement is well adapted to furnish the heat. 



Many of the large European forest administrations have such 

 or similar arrangements for coning. 



c. Commerical method. 



In the commerical establishments, heat is supplied by steam 

 pipes, controlled by automatic devices. The trays or drums are 

 kept in a rocking motion by machinery. The seeds, after falling 

 through the interstices of the trays, are at once conducted to a 

 cool room. 



II. Separating the seeds from their wings. 



In the case of Pine and Spruce seeds, flailing is sufficient. It 

 is not advisable to wet the seeds before flailing. For Larch, rubber 

 millstones are used, the distance between the stones being equal 

 to the smallest diameter of the seed. 



III. Cleaning the seed from dust, needles and wings. The seeds 

 are freed from admixtures by fanning, shoveling, centrifuge or any 

 grain-cleaning machine. The large commercial establishments drop 

 the seeds on endless rolls of cloth, which are moving on an incline. 

 The heavy seeds slide down, whilst dust and wings are carried 

 uphill. 



IV. Work of the U. S. Forest Service: 



a. Extracting seeds: The Forest Service obtains the seeds of 

 Douglas Fir, of Spruce, and of Pine in the West by drying the conea 

 on canvas. The canvas is raised above the ground during wet 

 spells and rolled up into a sack if need be. The cones of Lodge 

 Pole Pine can be collected in summer. The Lodge Pole cones might 

 be soaked before drying, to facilitate opening. Twelve square feet 

 of canvas are required, on an average, per bushel of cones. Tempera- 

 tures of 140 degrees reduce the vitality of the seeds. 



b. Cleaning: For the cleaning of seeds are used: 



(a) Fanning mills. 



(b) Corn shellers. 



(c) Two boards, in the case of Juniper berries, betweea 



which the berries are rubbed. 

 52 



