48 BULLETIN 13, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
OBTAINING THE SEED. 
Seed may be procured either by purchase from dealers or by col 
lecting the cones in the woods. If seeds are purchased, the dealer 
should be required first to furnish a sample and to guarantee that 
the remainder of the seed will be equal to it in quality. The sample 
should be tested by cutting open 100 or 200 with a sharp knife and 
observing the percentage of those which are plump, well-filled, and 
oily — indications of good quality. While the actual germination per 
cent will be lower than that shown by the cutting test, the result will 
be a reasonably safe guide to the quality of the seed. Seed is likely 
to be better and cheaper during years of abundant production than 
during off years. Wherever possible the climate of the region where 
the seed is collected should be like that in the region where it is used. 
White-pine seed ordinarily costs from $1.40 to $4 per pound, 
averaging about $2.25. The cost of collecting seed, however, is rela- 
tively low, ranging from 60 cents to $2.50 per pound, and, if properly 
done, better seed can be secured than by purchase. Where the area 
to be planted or sown is large and cones can be obtained in quantities 
from a near-by forest, it may be advisable to collect the seed. 
The cones should be collected just before they open, which is 
usually during the first half of September, or perhaps a week earlier 
or later, depending upon the season and the situation. In the open 
and on south exposures cones mature earlier than in dense woods or 
on north slopes. When some of the cones begin to turn brown it is 
usually time to collect them. Cones may be secured from trees felled 
in logging or, if lumbering is not going on, by climbing the trees and 
picking them off. Trees growing in the open bear more cones and 
are easier to climb than those in dense stands. Cones may some- 
times be obtained from squirrels' hoards. 
As soon as cohected, or even while collection is in progress, the 
cones should be dried and the seeds extracted. Since rain or damp 
weather will handicap this work, it is best done indoors. If the 
weather is clear, however; the cones may be dried by spreading them 
out thinly on canvas sheets in the sun and wind. The sheets should 
be made into bundles at night or a loose flap thrown over the cones. 
If the weather becomes damp, drying should be completed indoors. 
When the cones are dried indoors a room should be selected in 
which there is a free circulation of air, but which rodents and buds 
can not enter. The cones should be placed in racks made of laths 
laid parallel one-half inch apart, fastened at each end by laths nailed 
above and below. The racks, built like shelves one above the other 
about 18 inches apart on notched uprights fastened to the floor and 
ceiling, should be 4 feet square, which would give them a capacity of 
2 J bushels of cones, though drying will be facilitated if a less amount 
