38 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND 



and Alabama. It originally grew in all sections of New England 

 except on the higher mountains and in the region comprising 

 southeastern Rhode Island and Cape Cod. 



Few forest trees bear seed every year and the white pine is 

 rather more irregular in this respect than are most trees. There 

 is a common saying that the pine bears a seed crop only once in 

 seven years. This notion, however, is incorrect. There was a 

 good seed crop in Vermont in 1907, in parts of the State in 1910, 

 and in other parts in 191 1. It takes two years for the pine cones 

 to mature. At the end of the first season the cones are about 

 one inch long and of a purplish color. The mature cones begin 

 to open early in September when the seed blows out and is 

 carried by the wind for considerable distances. As there are two 

 seeds on each scale, there may be eighty or more seeds in a cone. 

 Usually about one pound of seed is secured from a bushel of 

 cones. Some large-topped pines will yield from two to three 

 bushels of cones, which carry anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 

 seeds. A few such trees scattered over a tract are important 

 factors toward its restocking. Much of the seed is carried twice 

 the length of the tree and some of it considerably farther. It 

 germinates best where there is plenty of light, as in a pasture at 

 the edge of the woods, or in an opening caused by windfall. 

 The Httle seedlings require a great deal of light and will soon die 

 if deprived of it. 



These facts are important reasons for making cuttings in a 

 pine forest the season following a seeding. On account of the 

 length of time required to mature the cones, it is always possible 

 to know a year ahead when there is to be a good crop, and the 

 harvest should be planned accordingly. If the cutting is made 

 in the fall or winter following seeding, when the ground is covered 

 with seed, germination goes on well in the soil which is stirred up 

 by lumbering, and the seedlings grow well under the increased 

 light. If made the year before, the seed from these trees will 

 be lost; if made the year after, the seed would largely have 

 germinated and died for lack of light and moisture. This ex- 

 plains why it is that occasionally one finds a splendid second 



