NATIONAL FOREST WORK 



493 



caches of the pine squirrels, since they 

 usually store large quantities. As would 

 be expected the better caches generally oc- 

 cur in the denser stands of timber. They 

 are found along small streams and springy 

 places, in water and muck. Dry caches are 

 frequently found under bushes, trees, tops, 

 and rotten logs. Caches are sometimes cov- 

 ered with humus and are so carefully con- 

 cealed that it is difficult for the inexpe- 

 rienced to locate them. The squirrels' 

 trails to and from the caches frequently 

 help in locating their stores. 



When extensive collecting Is undertaken, 

 it is often possible to use several or all of 

 the above methods of obtaining cones. 

 Collecting from squirrels' caches, however, 

 has proven most satisfactory. It has this 

 important advantage, that it can be carried 

 on after the cones on the trees are open and 

 collecting from standing trees becomes im- 

 possible. 



In the fall of 1907, 610 bushels of Lodge- 

 pole Pine cones were collected from squir- 

 rels' caches on the Targhee National Forest 

 at an average cost of 18 cents a bushel, one 

 man picking 13^2 bushels a day. During 

 the fall of 1908, 1,137 bushels of Yellow 

 Pine cones were collected in the Boise Na- 

 tional Forest by the same method after the 

 cones on the trees had opened. In these 

 cases collecting by any other method would 

 have been considerably more expensive. 



DRYING THE CONES. 



During collecting the cones are usually 

 picked into buckets or baskets, sacked and 

 transported to a place convenient for dry- 

 ing. They are then spread thinly upon can- 

 vas sheets or wagon covers and allowed to 

 dry in the sun. If the drying is liable to 

 be continued until the soil becomes cold 

 and wet, it is advisable to prepare a raised 

 platform upon which to spread the canvas. 

 The cones should be spread out thinly upon 

 the sheets. After being exposed to the heat 

 of the sun for a few days, they generally 

 open and allow the seed to drop upon the 

 sheets. The rate of drying depends upon 

 the weather and upon the species. Yellow 

 Pine, Douglas Fir and Englemann Spruce 

 open readily while Lodgepole Pine opens 

 with the greatest difficulty. It is therefore 

 generally necessary to dry the latter species 

 by artificial heat inside a building, or, even 

 better, to collect the cones in quantity in 

 fall and to store them till the following 

 summer when they can readily be dried in 

 the sun. 



If the other species mentioned are collect- 

 ed early and good drying weather prevails, 

 it is hardly necessary or advisable to dry 

 them by artificial heat, unless the work 

 is unduly delayed or the weather unusually 

 favorable. It then becomes necessary with 

 all species to resort to the slower and more 

 expensive artificial drying. If artificial 

 drying becomes necessary, a suitable build- 

 ing should be selected or constructed and 



provided with tiers of trays arranged 

 around the inside of the room, 8" to 10" 

 apart. The trays should be constructed 

 with screen bottoms having a %" mesh 

 through which the seed can drop upon a 

 canvas sheet on the floor of the building. 

 After the trays are filled with cones, one 

 or more stoves are heated up so as to keep 

 the temperature of the room 120 to 140 

 until the cones have opened up. Partial 

 ventilation of the room to carry off the 

 moisture-laden air is necessary to obtain 

 the best results. When the cones have 

 opened they are removed from the trays 

 and thrashed out, and another supply of 

 cones is then put into the trays. 



Twelve square feet of drying space is 

 usually allowed to a bushel of cones. Some 

 of the cones usually open more readily 

 than others. An occasional stirring by 

 means of an iron rake will result in a more 

 even drying. Sorting opened from closed 

 cones is not advisable unless cones are 

 placed too thickly upon the sheets. 



EXTRACTING THE SEED. 



In case of Yellow Pine a thorough raking 

 of the open cones is generally sufficient to 

 dislodge all the seed. In Douglas Fir and sev- 

 eral other species all of the seed cannot be 

 removed loithout more violent jarring. 

 Severe Jarring Is usually accomplished 

 through a "cone shaker." Such a device 

 may be constructed from a large, strong 

 dry goods box, about 4 by 3 by 3 feet. It 

 is provided at one end with a door made of 

 slats so spaced as to i)ermit only the closed 

 cones to fall through. This door should 

 be fitted, also, with a removable wire screen 

 of such sized mesh as to permit only the 

 seed to escape. Any suitable size of cylin- 

 der or box may be used for this purpose. It 

 should be built on a pole as an axis and 

 swung between two trees, or mounted on a 

 windlass frame. A crank should be at- 

 tached to one end of the axis in order to 

 revolve the apparatus and jar the seed 

 loose. Slats may be nailed lengthwise in- 

 side the apparatus, or loose blocks of wood 

 included with the cones, to increase the 

 jarring effect. After the seed has escaped, 

 the screen should be removed and the 

 churning continued to separate the closed 

 cones from the larger sized open ones. The 

 closed cones can then be returned for fur- 

 ther drying. While jarring with most spe- 

 cies is necessary, trampling the cones is 

 considered too severe and liable to injure 

 the seed. 



EXTR.^CTING THE SEED. 



When the seed is separated from the 

 cones it usually contains light membranous 

 wings, broken cones, scales, twigs and other 

 foreign matter which may in part be re- 

 moved by a large meshed screen. The 

 wings can be broken from the seed by rub- 

 bing between the hands or placing it in 

 loosely tied sacks which are then kneeded 



