NURSERY PRACTICE IN PENNSYLVANIA 767 



the seedlings had thrown off the seed coats and the application repeated 

 in four weeks to complete the full amount. The top dressing proved 

 disastrous and the beds so treated were uniformly very poor and thin. 

 When two years of age, the seedlings were lifted, all loose dirt shaken 

 off, and weighed. From the total weight of all the seedlings in the bed 

 the weight of the average lOO bundles was obtained. Only eight beds 

 had less than i,ooo seedlings; some had over 5.000; altogether over 

 130,000 seedlings were weighed. 



The figures given are meaningless without the following explanation : 

 The first i8 beds are in the first tier; the following lo of the single 

 application and the first 12 of the double application are in the adjoin- 

 ing tier, and the remainder are in the third tier. The soil is a clay loam 

 and became rapidly poorer and heavier from the first to the third tier. 

 The weight of the average check and average fertilizer bundle in each 

 group was taken as a basis of comparison. Minus and plus signs refer 

 to the weight departures from the average check of the group. Thus 

 where + precedes a number it indicates that the bundle exceeded the 

 average check of that particular group by the number given. These + 

 marks are almost invariably connected with fertilizers containing am- 

 monium sulphate or potassium sulphate. 



Nearly 7,000 seedlings from beds adjacent to the last group of fer- 

 tilizer beds, where equally poor soil had been treated with charcoal, 

 showed a weight of 250 grams per 100, or a departure of -[-94 over the 

 adjacent group of fertilized beds, and a considerable increase over all 

 groups, and over all but a very few individual beds. 



The beds treated with P2O5 were the most densely stocked and ap- 

 peared better than the checks, even though the weights do not show any 

 marked difference. It is possible that density of stocking may have in- 

 fluenced the weights in this case. Beds so treated suffered least from 

 "damping-off." In 1914 a second series of only 10 beds was run to 

 verify results, and -p departures are again shown only for combina- 

 tions containing ammonium sulphate. The general results were too 

 disa])i)ointing to justify the use of fertilizers in the ^^()nt Alto Nursery, 

 Green manure and charcoal have given much more desirable stands and 

 better seedlings. 



In lifting seedlings no improvements have been tried. Potato forks 

 arc commc>nly used. In shipping, wooden boxes and crates are used in 

 large shipments. For small shipments fiber cartons are used. These 

 come in three sizes and cost about 7, 11, and 25 cents each. .\n insu- 

 lating ])aper is used inside to prevent the dam]) moss softening the 

 carton. Packing, including moss, labor, and twine, costs from 10 to 20 



