MAKING MONEY OUT OF FORESTRY 71 



narily it is planned to scatter from six hundred to one 

 thousand seeds to each square foot, depending upon the 

 fertility of the seed. The bed has been thoroughly 

 soaked before the seed was scattered and now that the 

 seed is evenly distributed it must be covered with a thin 

 layer of sterile soil which does not contain any spores 

 of the damping-off fungus. Old garden soil is usually 

 pretty well inoculated with this disease, so it is better 

 to dig down into the ground two to three feet and get 

 some soil that has not seen daylight for centuries. This 

 is apt to be free from any organisms and if sprinkled 

 evenly over the bed by being passed through a sieve 

 the fatal disease may be avoided. The spores germinate 

 in the very surface of the bed and hence it is the sur- 

 face soil which is most important. The beds are then 

 covered with a leaf mulch or burlap to keep the light 

 out and the moisture in and the cover is ordinarily 

 retained from two to three weeks. 



After germination starts the covering must be re- 

 moved immediately or the little trees will smother or 

 perish from lack of sunlight. However, too much light 

 is dangerous, as they are quite delicate at first, so or- 

 dinarily a screen, made by nailing lath one and a half 

 inches apart upon thin strips, is kept over them con- 

 tinually. 



Weeds must be removed during this first season and 

 the beds must be sprinkled from time to time if rainfall 

 is scanty. The plan is to provide plenty of plant food 

 and moisture and thereby grow a stocky plant with a 

 fibrous root system in as little time as possible. On 

 damp and cloudy days the screen is removed gradually 

 to harden the plants and get them accustomed to full 

 sunlight. 



About the latter part of August weeding is stopped, 



