154 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cones scales, bits of dirt and refuse matter of all descriptions. In addition, a 

 great many of the seeds themselves, while perfectly good in external appear- 

 ance, are in reality abortive or ''light" seeds, that is the kernel has never fully 

 developed, so that the seeds would never germinate. What the seed collector 

 desires, and what he must have if he hopes to market his crop, is perfectly 

 clean, sound seed free from all wings, dirt or other refuse. 



The next step, therefore, is to remove the wings from the seeds. This 

 may be done by simply rubbing the seeds together with the hands, thus break- 

 ing off the thin, brittle wings. Often the seed is rubbed over a fine mesh 

 screen, by hand, or a small quantity of the seed may be placed in a sack and 

 then rolled and rubbed with the feet. Sometimes the seed are dampened 

 slightly with water and then rubbed, the effect of the water being to loosen 

 the wings from the seed. After the seed has been handled by some one of 

 these methods it is given the final treatment, which consists in separating the 

 good seed from the "chaff," the latter including wings, broken cone scales, and 

 the other refuse. For this final cleaning the seed may either be winnowed in 

 the open with a light breeze, or it may be put through a fanning mill, such as 

 is commonly used in cleaning grain. The former method is a crude one, and 

 a fanning mill is almost a necessity to clean seed satisfactorily and economic- 

 ally on a large scale. Frequently the seed may be winnowed to remove a por- 

 tion of the chaff, and later given a final run through a fanning mill. 



It has already been mentioned that in the Rocky Mountain forests it is 

 often necessary to collect the cones in remote localities, more or less inacces- 

 sible to cheap transportation. In such cases the seed is seldom put through 

 the various processes in one place. More frequently the cones are opened by 

 the sun's heat in the locality where collecting is done, and the seed and chaff 

 are then transported to some central place where the seed is given its final 

 cleaning. By this scheme the transportation of the heavy, bulky cones is 

 avoided, and the cost saved on the final product. When the seed has been 

 satisfactorily cleaned, it is placed in seamless sacks and carefully stored, 

 ready for distribution to the points where it will be used to grow new forests. 



The amount of clean seed which is ultimately obtained from a bushel of 

 cones varies with the species of seed, with the favorableness of the season, and 

 with the care used in the work of extraction and cleaning. Rocky Mountain 

 yellow pine will yield on an average one pound of clean seed from a bushel of 

 cones, though frequently it exceeds this somewhat. Douglas fir yields about 

 one pound of clean seed per bushel of cones. 



The business of collecting forest tree seed is of large importance to pri- 

 vate individuals in many localities, but the total amount of such seed collected 

 privately is insignificant in comparison to the quantities being collected an- 

 nually by the federal forest service throughout the west. As time passes, the 

 annual tree seed crop will increase in amount yearly. With the perfection of 

 methods for harvesting the crop, the cost per pound of the several important 

 species will decrease, a matter of much moment, since an abundant supply of 

 cheap seed is the first essential to the vast undertaking of reforesting the mil- 

 lions of acres of bur^aed and cut-over lands throughout the forest regions of 

 the western United States. 



