HOW PINE TREES ARE GROWN. 75 



covered too deep the plants exhaust their vitahty before getting 

 above the ground, and those that do get above the ground leaf 

 out so near the surface that the rain will splash soil over them, 

 partly or wholly burying them. A good plan is to cover the seed 

 with a half inch of gravel; this provides a good clean surface, 

 prevents the soil from splashing up on the stems and leaves, and 

 also permits the surface to dry quickly after a rain. 



The drills are made six inches apart and run cross wise to 

 the bed. When planting we sow the seed thick enough to pro- 

 duce from forty to fifty plants per linear foot. In making the 

 drills we use the edge of an inch board thus making the drill wide 

 enough to grow the plants two or three ranks in , depth. In 

 broad cast seeding we expect to grow from eighty to one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five plants per square foot. There is always 

 more or less loss from several causes and if two-thirds of this 

 number are growing at the end of the season we consider the 

 stand remarkably good. 



DAMPING OFF. 



Damping off is the only malady attacking the seedlings with 

 which we have had to contend. This is a fungus disease which 

 attacks the seedling just beneath the surface of the ground, 

 and is most active in warm moist weather. Damping off is most 

 destructive on plants under four weeks of age; but attacks the 

 pine seedlings throughout the first summer of their existance. 

 The only practical means of preventing the destructiveness of 

 this disease is to dry the surface soil as quickly as possible after 

 each rain. As mentioned before a gravel seed cover aUows the 

 surface to dry quickly and is desirable on this account. Wlien 

 the garden soil is used for seed cover we hasten the drying by 

 giving the beds a light raking immediately after each rain. This 

 loosens the surface soil and permits it to dry very quickly, and 

 at the same time forms a dust mulch which serves to retain the 

 subsurface moisture. 



HEIGHT OF ONE YEAR OLD TREES. 



One year old Western Yellow Pine seedlings should be about 

 three and one-half inches in height with roots twelve to eighteen 



