I was informed by M. Mougin, Conservator of Forests at Chambery, that in the Modane district the cones are collected at the end of November by men who climb the trees, with a long hooked pole, and gather the cones by hand into a bag which they carry. The cones are received twice a week at the drying-place, where they are spread out in an airy shed, and turned over every day to dry them and prevent them from heating. When the fine weather returns, they are spread out on a cemented floor, exposed to the sun, which opens them, after which the seed is collected and cleaned, and put in boxes, which are shaken frequently to prevent the attacks of insects. Sometimes seed can be collected on the snow under the trees in January by shaking the trees. But in no case is a stove used to extract them, as seems to be the usual practice in Scotland.’
From Prof. A. Fron,’ of the Forestry School of Les Barres, | have received valuable information on the germination of larch seed, which I summarise as follows : He considers that the process usually adopted of grinding the cones in a mill is very inferior to either of those which I have described as in vogue in the Alps, because the seeds of good quality which come from the central portion of the cone are mixed with those from its upper and lower ends, which are usually empty or imperfect. In 1905 he made experiments on the germination of larch seed obtained at Modane, which had been extracted by the heat of the sun, and obtained the following result :—
| Purity | 98 per cent. |
| Germinative power | 61.3 per cent.„ |
| Cultural value | 60.1 per cent.„ |
whilst the average of the seeds obtained from seedsmen only gave the following result :—
| Purity | 80 to 85 per cent. |
| Germinative power | 45 to„ 50 per cent.„ |
| Cultural value | 40 per cent.„ |
I may say that the seeds I have gathered from my own trees late in March, and extracted by exposing them to the sun under glass in a garden frame, have germin- ated quicker and grown better than any which | have purchased.
An ideal way of raising larch would be as follows: To gather cones in the month of March or April from the best and healthiest mature trees in one’s own district, or, failing this, from trees known to be healthy on a similar soil; or to purchase seed of known origin direct from a reliable firm abroad, among whom I can highly recommend Messrs. Vilmorin of Paris and Messrs. Jenewein of Innsbruck.
The seed-bed should be in an elevated position, where spring frosts are not likely to be severe, and sheltered as much as possible from the morning sun by trees
Prof. Fisher tells me that in Germany larch seed is extracted from the cones by a toothed axis rotating in a drum, also
lined with shorter teeth, and driven by water or steam power.
For further particulars concerning the purity and germinative power of larch seed from different sources, cf. Fron, Analyse et Controle des Semences Forestières, 92 (1906).
