How the Forest Service Gathers Pine Seeds 



Nature has tucked away the pine seeds so care- 

 fully that it requires ingenuity to extract them 



GATHERING seed of various species 

 of pine trees is an industry carried 

 on in the great national forests of 

 the West by the United States Forest Ser- 

 vice. The seed is used for reforestation on 

 the government reservations and is also sold 

 to private persons for the same purpose. 



Each autumn the cones are both gathered 

 in large quantities by employes of the 

 Forest Service and bought by the bushel 

 from persons who make a business of 

 gathering them. When gathered, the cones 

 are closed and hard and contain much sap. 

 They are placed in bins under cover and 

 allowed to dry out for a period of two 

 months or more. The opening process is 

 hastened by subjecting the cones 

 to a heat of about one hun 

 dred degrees Fahrenheit 

 for a period of from one 

 to three days. 



The cones are placed 

 in wire-bottomed 

 trays, about two 

 feet wide and three 

 feet long, and the 

 travs are stacked on 



The cones are gathered 

 in large quantities and 

 stacked in wire-bot- 

 tomed trays to dry 



racks in a room where the drying process is 

 carried on. The drying causes the bracts 

 or petal-like parts of the cone to spread out, 

 thereby-releasing the seed. 



In order to shake the seed from the cone 

 a churn-like device is utilized. It consists 

 of a box with ends of boards and sides of 

 woven-wire screen. Through this passes a 

 wooden axle supported by uprights. By 

 means of a handle at one end of the axle 

 the churn is revolved rapidly; the seeds 

 are shaken from the cones and fall through 

 the wire screen to a sheet underneath. 



In order to separate the seed from their 

 "wings," which are broken off by the 

 violent churning of the cones, a fanning- 

 mill is utilized. 



the southwestern sec- 

 tion of the country- the 

 use of a dr^'ing room or 

 kiln is not necessar>^ in 

 order to open the cones 

 and extract the pine 

 seed. The cones are 

 placed in shallow bins 

 in the open air. Ex- 

 posure to the intense 

 heat of the sun soon 

 opens them up, where- 

 upon they are put 

 through the churn. 



A churn like device is revolvred rapidly 

 to extract the seeds from the dried cones 



Pouring the cones into the churn. 1 he 

 seeds fall into a sheet-lined bin below 



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