EXTRACTING AND CLEANING FOREST TREE SEED. r? 
Tents—Large tents with high walls make fair drying rooms; 
12 by 16 foot or 16 by 20 foot tents with 5 or 6 foot walls may be 
_used, but larger tents have given the most satisfactory results. Dry- 
ing is more difficult in tents than in buildings, but the former have 
the great advantage of being readily transported from place to place 
where cones are collected. Ordinarily the largest tents are used for 
drying and smaller tents for storing and extracting. 
Stoves.—Small, temporary drying rooms are almost invariably 
heated by stoves. In buildings, box stoves equipped with drums have 
been generally used with satisfactory results. In tents, low, conical 
stoves have been more frequently used, but, as a rule, with poorer 
results. They are cheap and easily put up, but require constarit 
attention. Empty cones will not burn well in them. These are 
serious drawbacks, and the use of box stoves with drums is prefareble. 
Drying trays——The cones are usually spread in trays with wire bot- 
toms arranged in racks along the sides of the room or tent. Trays 
are generally made of 2 by 4 inch material, and vary in size from 
2 by 3 to 3 by 4 feet. The larger trays are used only with hghter 
cones, since they are more difficult to handle, especially where space 
is limited. The bottom of the tray is wire netting, usually with a 
3-inch mesh for lodgepole pine and with a ?-inch mesh for species 
with larger cones. Twelve square feet of tray space hold approxi- 
mately 1 bushel of cones, spread thinly. é 
Cones may also be spread cn pieces of wire netting stretched hori- 
zontally between the racks at intervals of 6 or 8 inches, with a vertical 
strip at each end to prevent them from falling on the floor when 
raked. Handling the cones is more difficult with this method, and 
the apparatus is less easily transported from one place to another. 
With either method a strip of canvas should be spread on the floor to 
catch the seeds as they fall through the netting, unless the floor 
is so smooth that seed can readily be swept from it without the 
use of canvas. It is essential that the trays be far enough apart 
to permit ample circulation of air. There should be a liberal supplv 
of high registering thermometers to keep an accurate record of the 
temperature in different parts of the drying room. 
FIRE PRECAUTIONS. 
With the high temperature and dry air prevailing in the kiln room, 
extreme precaution must be taken to prevent fire. Where water 
pressure is available, a hose should always be connected and ready 
for use. Chemical fire extinguishers should be secured as additional 
safeguards. If neither of these measures is practicable, several 
buckets should be kept filled with water, to be instantly available. 
