244 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE. 



come off. But by this method the seeds are made 

 to go through the first stage of germination, and a 

 considerable number lose their vitality. When it is 

 desired to avoid running this risk, a sack is filled to a 

 third of its capacity with the winged seeds, and the 

 wings are detached by rubbing them together in the 

 sack. After this it only remains to separate the 

 wings and seeds by winnowing. 



Do what one will, it is almost impossible to free 

 silver fir seeds entirely of their wings. This strongly 

 adhering membrane inevitably breaks short, leaving 

 a certain portion behind. We have also mentioned 

 above that these seeds do not stand such manipula- 

 tions. Hence it is safer to use the winged seed. 



When the seeds have been extracted from the 

 cones, they ought not to be heaped up at once in 

 the seed room. They should previously be spread 

 out and stirred about with a shovel for several days. 

 It is only after this operation that they can be put 

 up in higher heaps, and even then they must be 

 stirred about once a fortnight. The store-rooms 

 ought to be situated in a cool place, which, how- 

 ever, is not damp. They are generally closed sheds 

 adjoining the drying house. 



With such precautions, conifer seeds may be kept 

 two or three years. But it must be remembered 

 that they keep better in the cones, and hence if 

 sufficient space is available, they ought to be left in 

 this state, taking care not to heap them up too high 

 and to stir them about from time to time. Never- 

 theless it is always safer to use newly obtained 

 seeds. Among the rest, there are some seeds which 



