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, their 
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. 
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