An investigation in Shandou seed orchard in 1988 showed that both the numbers of cones counted from visible crown and from sample trees could be used to forecast the cone crop of Chinese fir three months ahead of collection, which satisfied the rcquirmcnt of short-term prediction. Counting cone numbers from visible crown gave more accurate prediction with less working load than that from sample trees. Along with cone crop prediction, the numbers of filled seeds exposed by slicing cones longitudinally revealed potential seed crop.