8 EXTRACTING AND CLEANING FOREST TREE SEED. 



ground. If this is done, trenching around the sheets is essential to 

 avoid flooding if rain occurs. Drying will, however, be much more 

 rapid and satisfactory if the sheets are spread on brush or platforms 

 raised 8 inches or more above the ground. This allows the air to 

 circulate beneath the sheets and prevents their drawing moisture from 

 the ground after a storm. In unfavorable weather it is imperative 

 that the sheets be raised above the ground. Platforms can be easily 

 constructed from refuse lumber, unedged boards, or poles. The top 

 of the platform can be made of boards, with or without canvas 

 stretched over them, or of canvas alone nailed to a framework. A 

 still better device is to make platforms of wire-mesh screens, with 

 sheets spread on the ground below to catch the seeds as they fall 

 through. 



Drying racks. A development of this method is to build a larger 

 frame containing wire trays and canvas sheets below them. In one 

 case where this appliance was used successfully frames were con- 

 structed of 2 by 4 inch material, 8 feet wide, 16 feet long, and set 

 4 feet off the ground. The tops of these were covered with 1-inch 

 mesh wire netting. One foot below this was stretched a sheet of 

 muslin or canvas to catch the seeds as they fell through. A similar 

 but improved device consists of a 6 by 12 foot frame made with 

 posts driven into the ground and standing from 3 to 4 feet high. 

 This frame holds two movable trays, supported by 2 by 2 inch cross- 

 pieces. The upper tray is 5 feet long and 12 feet wide by 4 inches 

 deep; it has a wire-screen bottom, with f-inch or 1-inch mesh. This 

 is to hold the cones while drying. The lower tray, which is also 

 4 inches deep but 8 inches wider and longer than the upper, has a 

 cloth bottom which catches the seeds as they fall through the wire 

 screen above. With species whose cones open readily, such as yellow 

 pine, it is often possible to extract all of the seed in this apparatus 

 by stirring the cones frequently as they dry. The empty cones are 

 thrown out with a potato shovel. At the close of the season the racks 

 can be removed readily and placed under shelter. The frames are 

 so inexpensive, however, that they can be reconstructed each year if 

 necessary. They are also light enough to be moved easily from place 

 to place. 



Drying platforms or racks should, when possible, slope slightly to 

 the south or southwest. This will expose them to the direct rays of 

 the sun during the middle and latter part of the day, when the air 

 is warmest. 



Protecting the cones. Cones which are being dried out of doors 

 must be protected from dew and rain. At night and in bad 

 weather they may be heaped together in the center of the sheet on 

 which they are spread, and the pile covered with the ends of the 

 sheet. This is done most effectively by taking hold of each corner of 



