MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 367 



a little dampness in these cellars, and in such places the seeds men- 

 tioned kept well. Wherever they are they must not lose weight, but 

 instead must add a little to it. Cellars with cement floors are dry and 

 when seeds are to be kept in these they must be mixed with slightly 

 damp earth in boxes, and so remain until spring. As spring approaches 

 it will often be as well to add a little more water to the soil if the seeds 

 appear not to have swelled sufiflciently. A belief was once almost uni- 

 versal that seeds of this kind would not germinate without being 

 frozen, but this is a mistake. There are states in which no freezing 

 occurs, and yet seedlings are raised as well as in places where it does 

 freeze. And in many a Northern state seeds are kept in cellars all 

 winter and are never frozen. If sufficiently moist stones will crack 

 open and shells burst at the time they should do. To be successful, 

 the sowing should be made in spring, just as early as possible, which 

 will be as soon as freezing is over and the soil in a condition to work. 

 The stone fruits are usually sown in beds of about three feet width, for 

 the convenience of weeding, etc., but apple and pear are sown in rows, 

 often being drilled in. Where but a small quantity is in question the 

 three-foot bed answers very well. Tree seeds are to be treated very 

 much as fruit seeds are. i^uts of all kinds and all hard-shelled seeds, 

 as well as acorns and the like, may be sown in the fall, or may be kept 

 till spring. The tendency among the growers of seedlings is to adopt 

 the latter plan. It certainly saves the seeds from the ravages of vermin 

 and from mishaps incident to the winter season, such as upheavals by 

 frost and the drying out of the seeds from the lack of snow or rain. 

 I have known of pecans, shellbarks, English walnuts and such seeds 

 kept in a damp cellar in barrels with no earth around them to grow 

 splendidly when sown in spring. But the safer plan is to mix a little 

 ■dry earth with them, then there is an assurance that there will be no 

 loss of weight. When spring comes it finds the seeds with the ker- 

 nels swelled, waiting for the warmth to cause them to sprout. Many 

 seeds, such as those of evergreens, are always sown in spring and it is 

 the same with the deciduous ones of the nature of maples, catalpa, 

 linden, beech, box-elder and birch. The bed system is to be preferred 

 to these, and as in the case of the fruit seeds mentioned, the earlier in 

 the spring the sowing is done the better it will be. Tree and fruit 

 seeds are not nearly so easily raised as are flower and vegetable seeds. 

 Even those with much experience often fail. Amateurs should not 

 make much outlay in the matter until they have gained experience. 



Joseph Meehan, Pennsylvania. 

 Our experience here in the West is that all nuts are much more 

 certain of cracking if frozen. Sec'y. 



