BEFOEESTATION ON THE NATIONAL FOEESTS. 5 



sible to pick the cones from the felled trees and from 'the ground 

 after the brush is piled. This is a good, rapid method, provided 

 a large number of trees are felled each day. 



In collecting from standing trees it may or may not be necessary 

 to climb them. Cones can often be stripped from short-limbed trees 

 by hand or by the use of sharp-edged hooks fastened to poles. When 

 climbing is necessary, the cones are stripped or picked off by hand 

 or by means of similar hooks with short handles. It is best to begin 

 work at the top of the tree, because the branches are shorter there, 

 and the cones can more easily be seen. Occasionally it is advisable 

 to cut down heavily fruited trees, but only when the tree itself can 

 be utilized. 



Squirrel caches are usually by far the best places from which to 

 obtain cones. Pine squirrels collect large quantities, and chipmunks 

 and mice lay by smaller stores. These rodents do not put by seed 

 sufficient for the winter only, but collect as long as the supply lasts 

 and the weather permits. In consequence they frequently lay by 

 quantities out of proportion to their need. 



The small red squirrels are the greatest collectors ; and it is not 

 uncommon to find in one of their caches from 8 to 12 bushels of good 

 cones, though the average quantity is about 2 bushels. The caches 

 are sometimes buried at a considerable depth near old rotten logs, in 

 springy places and muck, in duff, under bushes and felled tree tops, 

 along streams, and beneath overhanging stream banks. Their pres- 

 ence is often indicated by heaps of cone scales and chips where the 

 squirrels have been feeding. Sometimes, however, they are carefully 

 covered with leaves and humus, making it difficult to locate them, 

 though the squirrels' well-beaten trails often guide the collector. 

 The squirrels do not confine their collecting to* a few species, but 

 appear to relish a large number. Some of the species of cones which 

 are often obtained from caches are Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, 

 western yellow pine, lodgepole pine, and western white pine. Usu- 

 ally the cones of but one species are found in a single cache. In col- 

 lecting from squirrels' hoards it is well to have a pack horse for 

 immediate transportation ; for if cones are dug out and left loose or 

 in sacks on the ground for any length of time they will be carried 

 away and cached again by the industrious animals. 



Collecting from squirrel hoards has important advantages over the 

 other methods; it is usually cheaper; it can be carried on after the 

 cones on the trees are open; and a high grade of cones is obtained. 

 In one instance 610 bushels of lodgepole-pine cones were collected 

 from squirrel caches on the Targhee National Forest, at an average 

 cost of 18 cents a bushel, one man collecting 16^ bushels a day. Dur- 

 ing the fall of 1908, 1,137 bushels of yellow-pine cones were col- 



