78 SAYING THE SEEDS OF TREES. 



From twenty to twenty-seven bolls of them are ge- 

 nerally required to produce a hundred^weight of 

 seed. When there is a good crop, and the trees 

 yomig, so that little time is lost in climbing, a man 

 who is expert at the work will gather half a boll 

 a-day. 



After gathering the cones, the next operation is 

 to extract the seed. This is a most laborious pro- 

 cess, and requires, besides, some skill and a consider- 

 able degree of care. For this purpose, it is neces- 

 sary to have the use of a kiln, and of a barn with a 

 good floor. The kiln must be well heated before 

 any of the cones are put on, and to as high a tem- 

 perature as may be deemed safe for the seed ; that 

 is, so high as to be efficient in taking it out, without 

 subjecting it to the danger of being scorched or 

 burnt. It is matter of regret that the precise degree 

 of heat which is necessary has never been ascertained 

 by means of a thermometer ; and this not having 

 been done (so far at least as has come to the know 

 ledge of the writer of tliese pages), there is no al- 

 ternative but to leave the operator to the dictates of 

 his own judgment on the point. Perhaps the safest 

 plan for an inexperienced person, would be first to 

 make an experiment with a few pecks of cones, be- 

 fore he risk a greater quantity. If the seed appears, 



1 



