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Seed-Time and Harvest: October: Uncle

And the busy bushy-tailed depositors know exactly where they have deposited their funds; but so do the seed-harvesters in Uncle Sam's Forestry Service, and they draw regularly on these squirrel banks in the conduct of their work. These little treasure-houses, in fact, have been made a part of the Federal Reserve System.

But without consulting the squirrels, it seems; for, if we happen to be with a couple of the foresters when they come to get the unopened cones of the Pines buried away at the foot of a Spruce Tree among the brown hulls and shattered cones of other years, we'll probably hear a noise like a little sneeze, in the branches above our heads, together with a sound of scratching claws on the bark, and then a violent scolding from a little blackish-brown, white-bellied spruce squirrel: "We buried those cones, my wife and I, and we'll just thank you to let 'em alone -- beginning right now!"

THEN THE SQUIRRELS CALL THE POLICE But as the men, in spite of this plain order to make themselves scarce, go on burrowing with their "paws," much as the squirrels do, Mr. Squirrel is presently joined by his mate; and when their combined scolding produces no effect either, they call the police. One or both of them gives a shrill cry and soon there comes a perfect cataract of orders to "move on" from squirrels who have collected in the neighboring trees.

Sometimes the men fill as many as three sacks from one of these squirrel "banks"; but they are always careful to leave the squirrels enough cones for an ample supply for the winter. The little bankers enjoy "getting rich" quite as much as human beings do apparently, and are quite as foolish about laying away far more than they can use.

Evergreen seedlings raised from such seeds are in wide demand for ornamental trees, for windbreaks, for Christmas Trees, and for community tree-planting, in which school boys and girls so often help, and it is part of the business of Uncle Sam's foresters to gather the seeds in the National Forests for reforesting purposes.

HOW THE SQUIRRELS START IN THE BANKING BUSINESS Early in the fall the squirrels begin cutting into the cones of the Spruces, Firs, Pines, and Balsams to test the seeds and see how long it will be until harvest-time. Then, when the seeds are just right, the little harvesters begin early some morning and cut away all day in the tree-tops, while the cones keep showering to the ground.

But, like the careful business men that they are, they don't begin this harvesting until they have their granary -- otherwise the "bank" -- all ready. They scratch good, big holes in the mould and mulch of the cones that have accumulated, in the course of the years, at the foot of some big tree, and there the winter's supply is laid away. So careful are they that they very seldom bury a wormy or unripe cone; and, when they do, our forestry men say it's because they have something else on their minds. Being a squirrel in the wild woods gives one a lot to think about, I guess!

The cones of the Spruce are especially popular with the squirrels because they are so large and the seeds come out so easily; and, for the same reason and because the squirrels have them so conveniently "banked," they are popular with Uncle Sam's foresters.

THEN COMES THE THRESHING AND THE WINNOWING The foresters, after gathering the cones from the squirrel banks and elsewhere, take them to the drying-grounds, where they are spread out to dry. After a few days in the sun the cones open and, after a little pounding, the hulls come off and the seeds come out. The hulls and the seeds, which are all mixed together, of course, are then put through a series of rotary screens. These screens work on the same principle as a tumbling-barrel in a foundry, although they look more like the pop-corn man's rotary popper. As the cylinder goes around and around, most of the wings of the seeds are broken off, just as the rough places on the foundry castings are broken off by their mutual knocking together in the tumbling-barrel. The seeds fall through the mesh and the hulls remain behind.

With the seeds are a certain amount of bits of resin, pieces of hull, seed wings, and such, but by pouring out the seed again and again in a light breeze, as the threshers did in winnowing the wheat in Bible days, most of this is blown away. Then comes hand-picking and the removal of the remainder, mostly the little pieces of resin.