SEED PRODUCTION OF WESTERN WHITE PINE. 5 



cones or those of their neighbors. From the felled sample trees all 

 the cones are gathered very carefully, those which still hang on the 

 branches as well as those which were knocked off in felling the tree. 

 It is necessary to avoid collecting cones which were knocked off from 

 other trees. This can often be very readily accomplished, since the 

 cones of each tree differ from those of others in size and form, espe- 

 cially in the case of western white pine. The cones gathered from 

 each sample tree are put in separate sacks, properly labeled, and 

 after being slightly dried at ordinary room temperature are subjected 

 to further investigation. 



The total height and age and health of each of the sample trees are 

 determined, the number of cones from each counted, their lengths 

 measured, and their volumes and green weights determined. The 

 cones are then dried and the seed extracted. Coniferous tree seeds 

 are separated from their wings, cleaned, and weighed. If there is 

 any foreign matter present its percentage is determined by weighing 

 several grams of the sample, then cleaning it of all foreign matter 

 and reweighing. After the seeds are cleaned, 200 are taken, then- 

 weights determined to one one-hundredth of a gram, and these are 

 then germinated. After the germination percentage is determined, 

 the amount of seed per unit of area — for instance, an acre — can be 

 ascertained by means of the formula, x = ap. 



SEED PRODUCTION OF WESTERN WHITE PINE. 



The method of investigation described was applied in 1911 to the 

 study of seed-bearing characteristics of the western white pine in 

 Idaho on the Kaniksu and Coeur d'Alene National Forests, where this 

 pine reaches its optimum development. In all there were located 

 four sample plots, three on the Kaniksu and one on the Coeur d'Alene 

 Forest. About 10 per cent of the white-pine trees of the different 

 crown classes which bore cones were felled, the cones carefully gath- 

 ered, and kept separately for each tree. The seed from each tree 

 was extracted by hand and its purity and germinability determined. 

 The results for each sample plot follow. 



