STARTING AN ORCHARD — SIX YEARS EXPERIENCE, 1,100 TREES. 295 



The Chairman : I think Mr. Oxford means by low land a place 

 that is well drained, where the water does not stand. 



Mr. Oxford : Yes, it drains all right ; it is right on the creek, 

 it is river bottom land. The De Soto is about eight miles from us. 



Mr. O. W. Moore : If you have fall enough so it will carry off 

 the water, and you will tile drain that land, you will have no dififi- 

 ■culty whatever in growing plums there. 



Mr. Dike : I feel verv certain of that. 



GROWING EVERGREENS FROM THE SEED. 



FRED MOHL, ADRIAN. 



As a general thing, it does not pay an amateur to raise ever- 

 g^reens from seed, for the reason that two-year-old, 4 to 6 inch, 

 seedlings can be bought from nurseries at a nominal price per 

 thousand. 



In raising evergreens from seed, be sure you obtain good, 

 sound seed, which may be bought at from 25c to 80c per ounce. 

 Prepare your seed bed thoroughly. Sow broadcast and evenly. 

 Go over the seed bed with a hand roller to press the seed firmly 

 and evenly into the seed bed. Sift on a covering about one-half 

 inch deep of fine sand. Build a lattice cover over the seed bed, 

 say three to fovir feet high, placing the lath about one inch apart ; 

 cover both sides and top. It is well to scatter w^ood ashes over 

 the seed bed to prevent insects from eating the seed when it 

 sprouts. If the bed gets too dry, sprinkle it; if too w^et, scatter 

 dry sand over it, which will absorb the surplus moisture. 



When the seed comes up, keep the bed clean and free from 

 weeds by hand picking. The seedlings may remain in this bed 

 for two years, when they should be transplanted into rows one 

 foot apart and six inches apart in the row. It is best to have 

 a pail filled with mud and water in which to place the roots of 

 the seedlings when moving them to the new bed, in order not 

 to allow the sun and wind to dry the roots for one minute, as 

 the sap in the root of an evergreen is more gummy than in the 

 deciduous trees, and if the circulation is checked it is next to im- 

 possible to restore it, and the tree is practically dead. The root 

 must be kept moist continually from the time it is taken out of 

 the ground until planted. 



The best way to transplant the seedlings is to use a twelve 

 inch wide board, driving stakes in the ground at each end to hold 

 it in position. Stand on the board, and with a spade cut a trench 

 perpendicularly along the edge of the board. Take the plants 

 one at a time and hold them up against the perpendicular earth- 

 bank along the board, and with your hand, push the dirt up 

 against them to hold them in position. After the trench is filled 

 with plants, rake on dirt until nearly full, and with your feet 



