A SESSION AT THE EBERSWALDE FOREST ACADEMY. 203 
ways for coniferous seeds, and generally lengthwise for large 
seeds, The drills which run cross-ways are made by a special 
drill marker, which is a very practical implement, and makes 
a very good finish. It can be adjusted to suit any width 
between the drills, and also to form large or small drills, 
according to the size of the seed. The drills are arranged, in 
pairs, 2 inches apart, and half a foot between the pairs. 
Another and quicker method of drawing the drills is with the 
“‘markeur,” an implement like a large rake, having usually four 
or five specially made teeth, with which the furrows for large 
seeds, such as oak, beech, and chestnut, are made. These 
drills are made parallel with the length of the bed, instead of 
across it, as is the case with the former implement. Another, 
and a very quick, method is by means of a roller. This is the 
same width as the bed, and has five V-shaped ridges upon 
its surface. It is drawn once backward and forward, the ridges 
forming the seed-drills. The two last-mentioned implements 
have long handles, and are pulled backward and forward by 
two workers—one at each side of the bed. I saw them at work 
in the nursery at Cloister Chorin, which is very much larger 
than the Eberswalde nursery. 
When the seed-beds have been prepared, Scots pine and 
other seeds of a like size are sown either by means of the “seed- 
horn,” a very quick though somewhat irregular method, or 
by means*of the ‘sowing-stick.” The latter gives greater 
uniformity in the sowing, and was used principally in the 
nursery garden at Eberswalde. This “sowing-stick” is made to 
suit the width of the bed. It has two sides fixed at a right 
angle to each other, the lower side being broader, and containing 
little grooves at regular intervals. Each groove holds about 
two seeds. The seed is contained in a long wooden trough, 
from which the “ sowing-stick” is filled. To use it, two workers 
are required, one to hold each end of the stick. They dip it 
into the seed-box, from which it is filled, and they then lift it 
above the seed and give it a turn, when the surplus seed falls 
back into the box, only that contained in the grooves remaining. 
The charged stick is then placed over the drills in the seed-bed, 
and on being turned upside down the seed falls out. To me 
the method was quite novel, and it interested me very much. 
Although a costlier process than that by the seed-horn, by this 
method clumping is avoided when the plants come up, and 
