SECRETARY'S REPORT. 211 



a loose, barren sand it will not grow without the surface of the 

 ground is covered with some material that will prevent the sand 

 from being moved by the winds. In places where the limbs of 

 pine trees have been thickly spread over loose sand, a fine 

 growth of pines often comes up from the seeds which drop from 

 the cones. The wood grown on such lands, however, will never 

 repay the labor of planting ; but there are other conditions 

 which make it advisable. Heavy loam and clay soils are better 

 adapted to other varieties of trees. The soil which is recom- 

 mended for planting the pitch pine, would be a sandy soil, worn 

 out l)y repeated crops of corn and rye. 



The farmer can judge whether or not he has soil adapted to 

 the profitable cultivation of the pitch pine. If he has, his next 

 object is to procure good seed. Some botanists; called learned, 

 state that it requires two years for the pitch pine to mature its 

 seeds. This is a mistake. The proper season for gathering the 

 cones, is the last of October and the beginning of November, 

 before the burs of the cones arc opened by severe frosts. Some 

 years seed is very abundant; in others very little can be procured. 

 Select the cones of the growth of the current year, not those of 

 two years, as the learned botanists sat/, and spread them thinly 

 on a tight chamber or garret floor, and let them remain till 

 spring, when wanted for planting. It is well, however, to turn 

 them over occasionally in the winter. If the room is well 

 lighted, and has a southern aspect, much of the seed will drop 

 out. The cones that do not open can be put in pans and placed 

 in a slightly warm oven, or can be spread singly in the sun. In 

 either case the cones will soon open, and the seed can be knocked 

 out. In putting them in an oven, or by the side of a stove, 

 care must be taken not to expose them to a strong heat, wliich 

 destroys the vitality of the seeds. After it is separated from 

 the cones, the wings must be rubbed off, and the seed cleaned 

 by sifting and winnowing. A bushel of cones will ordinarily 

 yield a quart of clean seed, though double of that quantity is 

 sometimes obtained. 



Last year cones were very abundant,* and were sold at the low 

 price of fifty cents a barrel. Usually the cost of procuring 

 tlicm is about seventy-five cents a bushel. It is better and 

 more economical for a man to buy the cones than the cleaned 



