8 MASSACHUSETTS TREE PLANTER 



again with straw or leaves, since if left unprotected, the 

 seedlings may be killed by the cold or heaved from the 

 ground by the frost. In the spring of course the covering 

 is removed. 



COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF FOREST TREE SEEDS 

 (a) White Pine 



White pine is an intermittent seed-bearer, the same tree 

 yielding a full crop of seeds on the average only once in every 

 three to five years. The bearing years vary locally to some 

 extent, so that a crop may be produced in one section even 

 though entirely lacking in others. Because of their infre- 

 quency it is well to look up a seed year in advance. As 

 the cones appear on a white pine tree more than a year 

 before the seed is ripe, the collector can easily tell, a long 

 time in advance, when a seed year is due and lay his plans 

 accordingly. 



White pine cones open about the 15th of September in 

 this State, allowing the two winged-seeds at the base of each 

 scale to be shaken out by the lightest breeze. Unless the 

 cones are gathered before they open, a very small propor- 

 tion of the seeds can be secured. The collector should, there- 

 fore, pick the cones during the last week of August or the 

 first week of September. 



After collection, the green cones must be allowed to dry 

 and open. They can be spread in thin layers on papers on 

 an attic floor ; or dried in some similar manner. But where 

 large quantities of cones are collected shallow trays with 

 woven- wire bottoms, or a lattice work frame can be economi- 

 cally used. The cones placed on these trays open when dry, 

 and the seeds fall through the bottom into receptacles placed 

 to receive them. To shake out any seeds which do not drop 

 out of themselves, the cones should be beaten. As a final 

 step, the seeds must be cleansed from dirt and impurities 

 by being run through a fanning mill. The clean seed should 

 then be placed in paper sacks and hung up in a dry, cold 

 place, in a barn or shed, for instance, and left there till the 

 time for planting in the spring. Frequently it will pay the 

 planter to buy seed rather than go to the trouble of collect- 



