52 Peach-Growing 



There are still other methods of handling the pits. One 

 of the more common ones is to "bed" them either in mid- 

 summer or in the autumn. If in the summer, it presupposes 

 that the supply of pits was procured the preceding season. 

 The current season's crop of pits would not then be avail- 

 able. 



Bedding is done about as follows with such individual 

 variations as different nurserymen may make : A well- 

 drained site for the bed is selected, where an excavation 12 

 or 15 inches deep is made. A convenient width for the bed 

 is about 6 feet since the center can then be reached readily 

 from either side ; the length to correspond with the quantity 

 of pits to be bedded. Then the pits are mixed with a liberal 

 proportion of moist sand and filled into the bed, where they 

 are finally covered with 3 or 4 inches of sand. Or, instead 

 of mixing the pits with sand, the pits and sand are placed 

 in the bed in alternate layers about 2 inches thick and 

 finally covered with several inches of sand, as described 

 above. This is commonly called "stratification" of seeds. 

 It is a method used in handling many kinds of seeds and 

 nuts. 



The bedding of the pits may be done in the fall instead 

 of in midsummer. Whatever the details thus far, the seeds 

 are left in the bed until the next spring. The moisture and 

 the freezing during the winter will crack the pits the same 

 as when they are planted in the autumn where they are to 

 grow. 



With the return of the "planting season" the next spring, 

 the kernels are separated from the pits and sand by sifting 

 or otherwise, and are then planted in drills and covered from 

 1 to 2 inches deep. 



The advantages for bedding over fall planting are that 



