Seed Collecting in Lodgepolc Pine 33 



which holds the scales together. The scales may be separated 

 by putting the cones in hot water but they will not open and 

 release their seed until thoroughly dried. Cones on top shelves 

 open first as do those nearest the stove. At intervals of one to 

 two hours the cones should be thoroughly stirred. This exposes 

 all sides to the heat and also shakes out many seed. As the seed 

 fall from the cones they go through the wire netting to the tray 

 below and as each succeeding tray is stirred, the seed fall to the 

 floor where a piece of canvas is stretched to catch them. In this 

 way the seed are kept in the coolest part of the tent so their 

 vitality is not affected by the extreme temperature. After three 

 or four continuous days of heating all cones not open should be 

 soaked in water and dried again. 



In a collecting operation the latter part of September, 1910, 

 on the Holy Cross National Forest, a tent 12x16 feet with 5 foot 

 sides was used and heated with a Wilson stove. The sides of the 

 tent were banked up with dirt and two canvas wagon covers 

 were thrown over it to help hold in the heat. The seed trays 

 were fifteen feet long and about four and a half feet wide with 

 bottoms of three-quarter inch mesh chicken wire. Each tray 

 would hold three bushels after the cones were properly spread 

 out. Two large frames were made by placing three trays over 

 each other about eighteen inches apart. When these frames 

 were placed in the tent a space of about three feet was left as. an 

 aisle from which the cones could be stirred. The stove was 

 placed in the aisle in the center of the tent with the pipe running 

 out at the back. A canvas wagon cover was stretched on the 

 ground under each frame to catch the seeds as they fell. An 

 average temperature of 140 F. was kept up night and day. The 

 "night man" was on duty until 4 :00 a. m. at which time he went 

 to bed and slept until noon. In the afternoon he helped clean seed, 

 cut fire wood and cook supper, besides keeping up the fire in the 

 seed tent. From supper time on, he maintained a good fire in the 

 drying tent and stirred the cones. The fire was easily kept burn- 

 ing until 5 :00 a. m. at which time the camp started day work. 

 This method was considered a great saving in heat and time 

 since the nights were quite cold and the cones cooled rapidly 

 when the fire went out. 



It is an easy matter to remove seeds from the opened cones. 

 Most of the seeds are removed when the cones are stirred on 

 the drying shelves. Spreading them out on a large canvas 

 and tramping on them is a simple and fairly good method and 

 the few seeds left in well opened cones are not worth the 

 time which would be required to extract them. A revolving 

 churn is an excellent method of removing the seeds and at the 



