312 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



Their sharp hoofs served well to mix the 

 mud and pack it, so that when it was 

 dry it presented a hard and compara- 

 tively smooth surface, less liable to 

 break open with large cracks than if the 

 mud had been firmed with a tamper, 

 then allowed to dry in the direct sun. 



Still the lack of space made it neces- 

 sary to have the cones three or four 

 layers deep over a large part of the 

 drying grounds. The sun could have 

 little effect on any except the surface 

 layer. When this layer was open it 

 was flailed to jar out the seed. When 

 a small area was raked bare of cones 

 and the seed taken up, closed cones 

 were drawn over it, leaving another 

 bare space for the removal of seed. In 

 this way the whole pile was worked 

 over, and when finished the seed had 

 been swept up from all parts of the area 

 and the closed cones brought to the 

 surface ready for sunning. Four to 

 seven days' exposure in the direct sun 

 was necessary to open the cones suffi- 

 ciently to get the seed out. Each pile 

 was worked from three to five times. 

 This amount of handling removed nearly 

 all the seed. There was, however, a 

 small quantity scattered around the 

 edge of the drying grounds, which could 

 not be recovered ; also a small amount 

 was taken by the pine birds, which 

 came in flocks to the cone piles. 



In sweeping up the seed fr6m the 

 ground and rocks, a great deal of dust, 

 sand, and pitch was taken up with it. 

 Access to a fanning mill made it pos- 

 sible to separate nearly all the foreign 

 material from the seed. The wings 

 were not taken off till after the seed 

 had reached Halsey, Nebraska. To 

 separate the wings from the seed, a 

 small quantity of seed in a sack was 

 beaten against a stone or block of wood 

 till the wings were broken off, and then 

 winnowed. By another method a quan- 

 tity of seed in a sack was laid on the 

 floor and rubbed with the foot till the 

 wings were ground off, then winnowed. 

 After putting the seed through either 

 of these processes, it was perfectly 

 clean. A loss of twelve per cent was 

 sustained in the last cleaning of the 

 seed. 



Laborers hired for collecting seed 

 were Mexicans. They were paid $i or 

 $1.25 per day without board. One man 

 received $1.50 per day. This man was 

 a first-class worker and was put in 

 charge of other laborers a portion of 

 the time, and also acted as my inter- 

 preter. Day labor was not used exten- 

 sively in the collection of western yel- 

 low-pine cones, as it was found that a 

 large number of pickers could be hand- 

 led with much less trouble and more 

 satisfaction when paid by the bushel 

 upon the delivery of the cones. This 

 plan saved a large expense for trans- 

 portation which would have been in- 

 curred if the cones had been picked by 

 day laborers, for some of them were 

 hauled from points six to ten miles dis- 

 tant from the drying grounds. 



Some men who could not have been 

 induced to work by the day and who 

 would have been worth very little if 

 hired in this way were persuaded to 

 commence collecting by the bushel. 

 Some of these men brought in a great 

 many cones, for by this arrangement 

 all members of the family were allowed 

 to work. Some men who had private 

 holdings and usually made railroad ties 

 for a living cut down trees on their 

 own land and gathered the cones. 



Mexican labor is not generally very 

 efficient. However, it is cheap and is 

 about all that can be had in that region. 

 To secure satisfactory service it is nec- 

 essary to be \vith the men and oversee 

 the work. 



The following table shows the amount 

 of seed collected and the cost per pound 

 of collecting each species : 



