751 



CHAPTER y 



HUSKING AND CLEANING CONIFEKOUS SEEDS. 



In order to obtain coniferous seed it is generally necessary to 

 open cones artificially by means of heat or mechanism. Cones 

 of Scotch pine and spruce open in hot, dry air ; larch cones can- 

 not, however, be opened by means of heat without danger of 

 destroying their germinative power, they must therefore be forced 

 open mechanically. Cones of Weymouth and black pines fre- 

 quently open after merely drying them in the air. It is well- 

 known that silver-fir cones open as soon as they are ripe [so also 

 cones of Deodar and other cedars. — Tr.] 



The forest owner was formerly obliged to arrange for his own 

 supply of seed ; cones were then sown entire, or were opened 

 by exposure to the sun or more frequently by the use of 

 simple heating apparatus, which were constructed by States or 

 private forest owners. When more recently, artificial reproduc- 

 tion gradually displaced natural regeneration and broad-leaved 

 species made way for conifers, while much waste-land has been 

 planted, the demand for seed has increased so considerably that 

 its supply has become an object of trade which competes with the 

 State seed establishments. Many States and private forest 

 owners, therefore, no longer collect their own seed, and seed- 

 husking is now chiefly managed by traders. 



[There are several State seed-establishments in France ;* at Murat 

 (Cantal) and Puy (Haute Loire), for a variety of Pinus sylvestris (Pin 

 d'Auvergne) ; Modone (Savoie) and near Mont Louis (Pyrenees 

 orieutales) for mountain-pine, largely used for mountain-reboisement ; 

 also at Moutiers (Savoie) for spruce. — Boppe.] 



* For a good description of these, vide Achat, recolte ct 2)r£paration des graines 

 rdsincuscs, par Andre Thil, Inspecteur des forets. Rothschild, 14, Rue des S. 

 Pkes, Paris. 



