r,4 



EVERGREENS OF COLORADO 



of the screen and on to a canvass beneath. The wings of such seeds as 

 bear them may be easily removed by wetting the seeds for a few minutes 

 and then spreading them out to dry, after which the seeds readily separate 

 from the wings and may be cleaned by winnowing in a breeze or by 

 passing them through a fanning mill. 



In the case of lodgepole pine, many of the cones do not open unless 

 heated to a higher temperature than that usually secured by the open 

 air process. In such cases these tight cones may be caused to open by 

 placing them on a wire screen suspended two or three feet above a stove 

 or by placing them in an oven with the door left open. The seeds of 

 juniper and red cedars may be removed from the berries by soaking them 

 in a strong lye made from wood ashes, after which they are rubbed on a 

 fine sieve to remove the pulp. They should then be stratified. This 

 consists in mixing them with moist sand which is to be kept in a box 

 or other receptacle exposed to the frosts of winter. Seeds of the other 



Conifers may be stored by placing 

 them in cloth or paper bags and 

 hanging them in a cold but fairly 

 dry room or building where they 

 can be protected from the ravages 

 of mice. 



Where only a few dozen or two 

 or three hundred trees are desired, 

 they may be grown in a box of soil 

 about two by three feet and one 

 foot in depth, filled two-thirds its 

 height with sandy loam soil. This 

 may be set in the shade of a build- 

 ing or trees and will make a suit- 

 able place for the growing of the 

 seedlings. In larger operations, 

 seed beds should be laid off about 

 four feet wide and from six to 

 twelve feet long. These beds 

 should be surrounded with eight 

 inch boards, placed on edge, in 

 order to protect the seed beds from dry winds and to support the screens 

 which are necessary if the seed beds are placed in direct sunlight. The 

 soil for the seed beds should be a light sandy loam with good drainage 

 but which can be kept from drying out. 



The proper time to plant the seeds is in spring as soon as the soil 

 can be worked or about the time that early gardening operations can be 

 carried on. The soil should be levelled off and should be worked into as 

 fine and good a condition as for planting radish or onion seeds. The 

 seeds may be sown in rows about eight or ten inches apart across the seed 

 beds. A very satisfactory way is to press the edge of a board into the 

 soil to the proper depth, depending upon the kind of seeds to be planted, 

 and the seeds are then scattered in the groove thus made, about as thickly 



Fig. 37. Alpine Fir. Axis of cone 

 after scales have fallen, x 1 /^. 



