8 EXTRACTING AND CLEANING FOREST TREE SEED. 
ground. If this is done, trenching around the sheets is essential to 
avoid flooding if rain occurs. Drying will, however, be much more 
rapid and satisfactory if the sheets are spread on brush or platforms 
raised 8 inches or more above the ground. This allows the air to 
circulate beneath the sheets and prevents their drawing moisture from 
the ground after a storm. In unfavorable weather it is imperative 
that the sheets be raised above the ground. Platforms can be easily 
constructed from refuse lumber, unedged boards, or poles. The top 
of the platform can be made of boards, with or without canvas 
stretched over them, or of canvas alone nailed to a framework. A 
still better device is to make platforms of wire-mesh screens, with 
sheets spread on the ground below to catch the seeds as they fall 
through. 
Drying racks——A development of this method is to build a larger 
frame containing wire trays and canvas sheets below them. In one 
case where this appliance was used successfully frames were con- 
structed of 2 by 4 inch material, 8 feet wide, 16 feet long, and set 
4 feet off the ground. The tops of these were covered with 1-inch 
mesh wire netting. One foot below this was stretched a sheet of 
muslin or canvas to catch the seeds as they fell through. A similar 
but improved device consists of a 6 by 12 foot frame made with 
posts driven into the ground and standing from 3 to 4 feet high. 
This frame holds two movable trays, supported by 2 by 2 inch cross- 
pieces. The upper tray is 5 feet long and 12 feet wide by 4 inches 
deep; it has a wire-screen bottom, with ?-inch or 1-inch mesh. This 
is to hold the cones while drying. The lower tray, which is also 
4 inches deep but 8 inches wider and longer than the upper, has a 
cloth bottom which catches the seeds as they fall through the wire 
screen above. With species whose cones open readily, such as yellow | 
pine, it is often possible to extract all of the seed in this apparatus 
by stirring the cones frequently as they dry. The empty cones are 
thrown out with a potato shovel. At the close of the season the racks 
can be removed readily and placed under shelter. The frames are 
so inexpensive, however, that they can be reconstructed each year if 
necessary. They are also light enough to be moved easily from place 
to place. 
Drying platforms or racks should, when possible, slope slightly to 
the south or southwest. This will expose them to the direct rays of 
the sun during the middle and latter part of the day, when the air 
is warmest. 
Protecting the cones——Cones which are being dried out of doors 
must be protected from dew and rain. At night and in bad 
weather they may. be heaped together in the center of the sheet on 
which they are spread, and the pile covered with the ends of the 
sheet. This is done most effectively by taking hold of each corner of 
