42706702 how and when to collect pine seeds

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The Staminate (male) and Pistillate (female) flowersof the White Pine. These appear a year beforethe cones develop ; hence it is an easy matter todetermine a year in advance of a seed crop.

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1?'xH^^ AND WHEN TO COLLECTJ^ 5 WHITE PINE SEEDnpHE white pine {Pinus Strohus) is one

of the most common trees found inMassachusetts and New England, and is ofgreat economic and aesthetic value, yet thewriter finds that little is known about itsmethod of propagation.

Even teachers and those who have studiedbotany and nature study, and again farmersand men who have worked in the woodsor at the lumber industry all their lives,seem never to have given the matter anythought or definite observation.

White pine is grown from seed only;it does not sprout from the roots when cut,

as our hard woods. In replantingWhite pine . J i J J 1 J^ our waste and abandoned landsfromseed only with white pine, the first step is to

collect the seed. Some evidentlythink pine trees come from nothing, or were


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created, perhaps, but this is not the wayNature does things. If we expect an agri-cultural crop, the kind of grain desired isplanted ; just so with growing the white pine.

Pine seed comes from the cones whichgrow upon the pine trees. The cones are^ ^ more abundant upon trees ofSeed ^comes twenty years of age or more, andfrom pine ^^g located near the top of thecones

tree. Old single pasture pines,or those growing in clumps or along theedges of the forest, and more or less limbed,commonly called "cabbage pines," are usu-ally the greater seed bearers. These trees,also, are the easier to collect the cones from.

It requires two seasons for the white pinecones to mature. The embryo cone, which^^^ is the pistillate (female) blossomseasons of the pine, forms in the spring offor seeds j.}^g year, at which time it is fer-to mature ! i i i i itilized, and can be seen through-out that whole season as a small, upright.


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shedding, one can imagine how far theymay be distributed. The finding of isolatedpine seedlings is often accounted for in thisway. The prevailing wind at time the conesare opening governs the territory seeded.

If we desire to collect white pine seed, itis important that the cones be collected

before they open and lose theircones seed. Thi? may be done inbefore

jj^g Jj^tt^j. pg^^-j ^f jj^g month ofthey open . i r iAugust, any time before thecones open.

There are various methods of collectingthe cones, but the best advice is to get themsomehow. Picking with a longMethods ladder is one way ; another, andof collect- , .,, 1 iring cones ^^^ '^"at Will rccommend itselr,

is to find out where lumbering isgoing on, and collect the cones as they fellthe trees.When connected with the New Hamp-

shire College the writer tried a number of


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ways of solving this problem. One whichworked very nicely was to send about fouror five boys up the trees to pick the conesand throw them over the branches to theground, while another one remained uponthe ground and gathered them into bags.The cones may again be gathered by pick-ing and putting directly in a bag which isattached to the shoulder, similar to the man-ner of picking apples. Old gluten or feedbags, inexpensive and commonly availableabout farmers' barns, answer very well forthis purpose.The number or quantity of cones thatcan be gathered in a day will vary as to

the yield per tree, method ofMother , . . , .seed trees gathermg, etc. As white pme

box-boards throughoutNew Eng-land are in great demand, and at a relativelyhigh price, even the old " cabbage pines,"full of limbs, a few years ago consideredvalueless, are at present rapidly going to the


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sawmill. These old trees in the past havebeen the great seed producers and mothertr^es of our present forest stands. If theyare destroyed, however, where must we lookfor our future pines?

One man, with two assistants, in a seedyear spent nearly two days in cutting downabout 50 pine trees and picking

example *^^ cones from them, and gatheredin collect- two wagon loads, some 50 bush-mg pine ^j^ before the cones were open.

When they were dried out andopened, he had fully 100 bushels of conesand nearly 5 bushels of uncleaned seed.His method of drying was to spread themout where the sun could shine on them, rak-ing the pile over often, covering them witha canvas at night and in rainy weather. Ifthe cones get wet they close up. It tookin this case two weeks to get the seedsfrom the cones.


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White pine cone with scales open and seed gone.White pine needles grow in clusters of five.


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10After the cones are gathered it is not

necessary that the seed be secured from $them at once. They may be |ecuring (Jeposited in any dry place, where ii

cones squirrels or mice are kept from Ii^them, and the seed thrashed out j

later. The practice of using a bag to putthe cones in is convenient, for as they open :up the bag can be flailed at odd times and ithe seed falls out into the bottom and is Ireadily collected.

Should one have a greenhouse, it is usu-ally available about the time the cones areripe, and if they are placed here for a shorttime, avoiding any moisture for a few days,the high temperature will open the conesvery quickly. The writer has made it apractice simply to place the bags in thergreenhouse, and then turn and flail them occa- iisionally, when the seed is easily separated,'A hotbed or cold-frame sash could be madeto serve the same purpose on a small scale.


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There are probably many other ingeniousways of extracting the seed from the coneshat will occur to different ones which willDC equally good.White pine seed has averaged in price in

recent years from $1.50 to $4.50 a pound.During the spring of 1907 the

^"^^, price in large quantities was $3.753f seed ^ Ia pound.

White pine seed if given normal condi-tions, not too moist or excessively dry, re-

tains its vitality for several years.Vitality yj^g reason that the seed has beenlo/yelrs SO high is that the demand has

increased very rapidly in thiscountry lately, and the few dealers havepractically made their own prices. It is hoped that this brief pamphlet willassist in calling attention to the importance

of gathering white pine seed eachImportant , ^ . . [ . . ,,to collect year, when it is truiting. We'^


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12portance of harvesting this crop, just thesame as any other.The writer would consider it a great

benefit to New England, and Massachusettsin particular, if enough people

Pine seed.campaign could be interested so that a regular pine seed campaign could be

kept up until the seeds of this most inpor-tant forest tree could be purchased at 50cents a pound, and it is believed it can bedone.

With pine and other forest tree seeds inplenty, at reasonable prices, people generally

will begin to start small nurseryBeginnings i^gjg [j^ j}^gif gardens and fields,forestry which will in tum give us seed-

lings and transplants at a muchmore rational forestry basis than they canbe obtained at present.

There are from 20,000 to 30,000 whitepine seeds in a pound, and it is customary fonnurserymen to plant this amount upon a bea


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134 feet wide and 50 feet long. Under nor-mal conditions, which will be described ina forthcoming circular, a person^-3;' ought to raise 10,000 to I 5,000jeeds in I pound seedlings on this area. With

the above data, and knowing thedistance apart that pines are set, usuallyD by 6 feet, one can figure out for himselfhe cost of growing his own stock of plants.

It has been the endeavor of the writer toell in a precise and practical way just how

and when to collect the whiteReciothmg pjjjg seed. It now remains to beands ^^^^ how many we can get to dosomething in this line. All per--sons interested in reclothing our waste lands,and in establishing economic and aestheticforestry conditions throughout this Common-wealth and New England, will find thatpractising and impressing the simple begin-nings of forestry on others will go far towardan ultimate solution.


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15the minds of many that a seed year oncein seven is a fixed law. From observationthere seems to be no definite regularity inNature. A white pine, like other trees, ifit yields a maximum crop one year, is notlikely to produce another heavy crop in fromthree to seven, depending upon the seasonsand other conditions. The writer has seentwo heavy crops in one locality only fouryears apart. Examples are not uncommon,also, where a pine tree may be fruiting afair number of cones and at the same timehave embryo cones which are to fruit thefollowing season.Not all sections of the State are likely toseed the same year, although they may.By inquiry it is found that one section mayhave a heavy crop, while another may havenone. In this way seed usually can be hadfrom some section each year.The seeds of spruce, hemlock, and other

evergreens are collected in like manner as


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16Seed of ^^^ P^^^- Of course, they varyother in size of cone and seed andevergreens . . vtime or matunty.

Deciduous trees, or hard woods, are alsoeasily grown from seed, and when one gets

interested in collecting and grow-Hardwoods . i . . lfrom seed ^^ white pme, it IS only a

step toward later interest andpleasure in the whole forestry question.We need to cultivate as a people a greatlove for out-of-door life, and there is noth-

ing that awakens interest and a, ^ love for Nature herself more thanand Nature

the forests and their associations.At a later time a companion booklet on

methods of planting and caring for seedlingswill be issued.

F. W. RANE,State Forester

State House, Boston, Mass.,August 1, 1907

42706702 how and when to collect pine seeds

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