204 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
made. No half-way measures should be tolerated in a thoroughly good 
preparation of the soil; as a general rule there is altogether too little 
account made of this greatest source of success, and numerous failures 
at raising plants from seeds are clearly traced to the use of poor, thin 
soils, while the want of success is attributed to the poor quality of the 
* seeds, or reflections are cast upon the reliability and good faith of those 
who furnished them. The most convenient method for after culture is 
to sow in drills. The distance between the drills will be guided by cir- 
cumstances. If hand culture only is to be employed, 18 inches apart 
will be a good distance for most tree seeds, although some of the finer 
or smaller kinds, and such as require several years’ growth before the 
plants become large enough for removal, may be placed closer. All the 
pine family belong to this class. The depth of covering will also be reg- 
ulated by the size of the seed, and to some extent by the kind of soil 
and the situation. On sandy soils the covering may be deeper than when 
the soil is liable to form a crust on the surface after rains. This charac- 
ter of soil is not well fitted for raising young plants in dry climates 
unless rains can be prevented from beating on the surface immediately 
above the seeds. Acorns and the larger kinds of nuts should be cov- 
ered with about two inches of soil, and if this covering is composed of 
light mold and sand, somewhat firmly pressed over the seeds, moisture will 
be secured more uniformly, and the young shoots will meet with no 
impediment in their growth; a slight covering of short straw or chaff 
may be used to great advantage if carefully removed after vegetation 
has started. Chaff is an admirable covering for seeds, and only the most 
slender growths will require its removal. 
Light and small seeds, such as those of the Birch, Catalpa, Paulownia, 
and Mulberry, should be sown on the surface of the soil, which is after- 
wards raked evenly and smoothly without disturbing the regularity of 
the seeds, and this will afford sufficient covering. By passing a light 
wooden roller over the surface a finer pulverization will be given, and 
the pressure will tend to preserve the moisture of the soil from rapid 
evaporation. A finely pulverized, firm surface acts as a substitute for 
mulching. 
The ordinary care given to crops, such as weeding, hoeing, or merely 
loosening the surface, will be necessary when the young plants appear 
above the soil, so as to encourage their growth. There are various kinds 
of hand-cultivators now in use which answer an admirable purpose in 
removing weeds from young plants that are in drills, especially on light 
soils, and even on tenacious soils they can be used to advantage when 
the soil is softened from previous rains; but judgment is required in 
selecting the best time to work on these soils; if trampec upon when 
wet they become caked and lumpy; on the other hand, when stirred at 
the proper time they can be finely pulverized. 
Very small seeds may be sown in boxes and covered with glass, or 
otherwise protected against rapid evaporation. Such coverings may be 
removed when the young plants have sufficient roots to supply moisture 
to the leaves. 
TRANSPLANTING. 
Small trees are more successfully transplanted than large ones. The 
size rather than the age of the plant will govern the time of removal from 
the seed rows or beds. Silver Maples will be large enough for transplant- 
ing after one year’s growth in ordinary good soil, but most trees will re- 
quire from two to three years in the nursery before becoming large enough 
for removal to their final positions, and some slow-growing kinds may re- 
