988 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



PRACTICALLY all of the pine seeds have wings. 

 Those which do not have these filmy planes 

 which bear them some distance from the tree on 

 which they are borne, are valued as food by squirrels, 

 and even by people, so their distribution is taken care of. 

 The white pine cone opens at just the right time, and 

 the little seeds from the bases of the cone scales go 

 whirling away in spirals through the air. If you have 

 even seen a single pine tree standing alone, with a whole 

 brood of little trees, generally to one side, you may be 

 very sure that these tree-children have come from the 

 one parent, and that they are on the side away from the 

 prevailing fall winds. Some pine trees release manv of 

 their seeds after the snow falls, and these seeds go 

 scampering away with the winds, gliding and sliding 

 over the crusted snow. Then when the warm spring sun 

 comes, each black spot of seed, absorbing the heat, melts 

 itself down into a hole and reaches the ground before 

 the surrounding snow is all gone, and thus gets the 

 benefit of the moisture from the melting, for the spring- 

 time is near to start life. 



One pine, the lodgepole pine of the Rocky Mountains, 

 has been known to hold its seeds clutched fast in the 

 tight little cones for a quarter of a century. Some cones 

 have even been grown over by the limbs on which they 

 grew and could never release their seed unless the 

 branch or tree were destroyed. These seeds keep their 

 life during all the years. Heat will open the cones, and 

 a forest fire in this region is almost sure to be followed 

 by a forest of lodgepole, because the fire not only opens 

 the cones, but also destroys the litter on the ground so 

 the seeds which are released can sprout at once on the 

 soil left exposed. It is said that all the lodgepole pine 

 forests represent areas that have been burned over, and 

 they have been able to take possession because the other 

 trees couldn't stand the fires, while the lodgepole was 

 adapted to profit by them. 



THE maple keys help the seed to float away from 

 the parent tree. The aeroplane of the elm seed 

 not only bears it on the wind but helps it float on 

 the water. When the heavy spring rains come, the elm 

 seeds which appear before the leaves in spring, and must 

 soon sprout or die, are floated in quantities by the rain 

 into pools or down streams, to find lodgement where 

 some soil gives them a chance to grow. 



Another device is used by the sycamore, or button-ball. 

 Its seeds are ripened in the fall ; yet- the old tree does 

 not let go of them, but holds them through all the 

 winds of winter, where they hang on in spite of gales, 

 even when the cord-like stems of the button-balls are 

 whipped to shreds. But when the spring winds and 

 rains come, the button-ball softens, and divides into 

 downy segments ; each seed, with its parachute, is whirled 

 away in the gales of March. 



The paddles of the ash tree serve their purpose, the 

 little birds formed by the gray birch scales all these 

 are part of the same plan. Hemlock seeds are borne far 

 out on the tips of the smallest twigs and each seed is 



provided with a scale that keeps it from falling directly 

 to the ground. The linden seed has a plane or para- 

 chute, other seeds have hooks that catch to moving 

 objects, and thus they travel. Some have special boats 

 for floating, like the Chinese water nuts. 



The cocoanut has traveled all the tropic seas, for its 

 husk has an outer layer that is smooth and shiny and 

 will not let water in, while just inside is a porous and 

 fibrous mass, full of air spaces so that the heavier kernel 

 is readily floated. Because of the so-called "milk" in 

 the cocoanut the kernel keeps its life for a long time, 

 until cast up on a beach by the tide, and half imbedded 

 in sand from the beat of the waves, it sprouts in groves 

 that fringe the southern oceans and even helps to estab- 

 lish soil on newly formed coral islands. 



The common red cedar or juniper bears a seed covered 

 by a pulp which is relished by birds. The birds digest 

 this pulp, not the seed, which, passing through the bird's 

 body, is carried from place to place. The fence-row 

 lines of cedar trees have all been started in this way and 

 mark where birds have stopped to rest on the fence rails 

 or wires. Foresters have found that the only successful 

 way to get red cedar seeds to sprout is to practically boil 

 them first and remove the pulp, or in other words, to 

 imitate the conditions within the birds' hot little bodies. 



CHESTNUTS, hickory nuts, walnuts, and other 

 edible seeds relished by squirrels and mice are 

 buried by these animals. Naturally they forgot 

 some of these storage places, or do not need to use all 

 that they have hoarded. Here again another wise pro- 

 vision of nature comes in. The shells protect the germ 

 until after the winter has frozen and cracked the outer 

 protective covering, admitting the moisture when the 

 spring thaws come and cause the germ to swell and grow. 



Most remarkable, in many ways, is the witch-hazel, 

 which grows in dense thickets and must spread its 

 growth outside these thicket boundaries. It has a regular 

 artillery. The nuts seem to need a sharp frost to open 

 the closely joined parts. Frosty nights will do the trick, 

 and a dry, sunny day completes the process. Warmth 

 causes the edges of the seed cups to curve inward with 

 such force that the seeds will be shot for a considerable 

 distance, usually from ten to twenty feet, though an 

 actual measurement of forty-five feet is recorded. The 

 special provision in the case of the witch-hazel seed is 

 that the seed is very smooth, and polished, and the way 

 the seeds are discharged is like that by which orange or 

 watermelon seeds are shot by the pressure of thumb and 

 forefinger. 



These examples of the way trees travel by means of 

 their seeds are only a few of many. Can you think of 

 others? 



DIRECTORS MEET IN NEW ENGLAND 



DIRECTORS of the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion met at Boston on August 31 and at the 

 Profile House, N. H., on September 1, in order 

 to present at the Forestry Conference at the latter place 



