large quantities of cones can be purchased from settlers who will
collect and deliver them at central points at a stipulated price.
When this method is employed, however, frequent examination of
the cones should be made to ascertain that they contain the full
number of seed, for often opened cones from which a part or all
of the seed has been disseminated will be offered for sale. Insect
larvæ also often destroy a large proportion of the seed, particularly
when the crop is light and care should be taken that the cones
purchased are not infested. The prices paid for cones vary from
25 cents to 50 cents per sack for the larger cones, like yellow
and white pine, and 50 cents to $1.00 for Douglas fir and spruce,
depending upon the abundance of the crop.

After the cones are gathered the seed must be extracted and cleaned.
Where climatic conditions in the fall of the year will permit
air-drying, the cones may be spread out on sheets or blankets where
they will be exposed to the sun and wind. Under this treatment
they will open in from 3 to 6 days, depending upon the weather
and the species. Where bad weather will interfere with air-drying,
the cones must be dried undercover by artificial heat. This is the
method usually employed by professional seed collectors, and where
large quantities of cones are to be treated each year special dry
houses are constructed and fitted with elaborate drying apparatus.
The work can be done most cheaply with such an establishment, but
for the ordinary timber owner who expects to collect seed only
occasionally, a makeshift dry-house which will answer the purpose
can be fitted up inexpensively in any unused building. The essential
features are shelves or trays 4 feet wide arranged around the walls
of the room, one above the other and separated about 8 inches apart,
and a heating stove placed in the center of the room. The shelves