260 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



of the bed may bo covered to the depth of three or four inches with 

 chaff, moss, hay or some similar material, that will keep the soil moist, 

 thereby saving the labor of applying water. Early the following spring 

 the bed should be uncovered. All kinds of seeds that do not usually 

 germinate until the second season may be safely treated in the same way. 

 Carya (Hickory, Pecan Nut). Well-known, valuable, deciduous 

 trees, all natives of the United States. Some of the species, like the Pe- 

 can tree and Shell-bark Hickory, yield very delicious and valuable nuts, 

 which are always in demand for home use and export. The cultivation 

 of these noble and valuable trees has, no doubt, been greatly retarded 

 by the prevalence of an erroneous idea in regard to the supposed diffi- 

 culty or uncertainty attending the transplanting of either young or old 

 trees. This very absurd idea has been repeated and disseminated by 

 men holding high positions, but who could not possibly have had any 

 practical experience in raising or cultivating such trees. These theorists 

 usually recommend the planting of the nut where the trees are intended 

 to remain, which is not necessary any more than it is to plant the seeds 

 of our common fruit trees in such positions. The excuse for this kind 

 of permanent planting is, that the Hickories do not produce a sufficient 

 number of fibers to insure safety in transplanting. If Hickory-riuts are 

 planted in a stiff clay, or any other kind of hard, compact soil, they will 

 ssnd down one or two long, naked tap-roots, but if placed in light, rich 

 sand or loam they will produce a large number of fibrous roots, and may 

 be transplanted with as much certainty of living afterwards as any nut- 

 bearing tree known. I speak from experience, and not hearsay, in this 

 matter. In propagation, select the fresh nuts in autumn, and mix with 

 light soil or sand, and place in heaps in the open ground, or in boxes 

 with good drainage. Early in spring, or as soon as the nuts show signs 

 of sprouting, take them out and drop in rows, placing the nuts two to 

 four inches apart in the row, and the rows four feet apart. Cover the 

 nuts with about an inch of soil. If the seed-bed is light, poor sand, so 

 much the better, but add old, well-rotted stable manure in liberal 

 quantities to the surface, as a mulch. In the fall, or early the following 

 spring, take up the seedlings, either with a spade or with a tree-digger, 

 and if they have long tap-roots, they should be shortened to about one- 

 half their original length, or a little more. If this is done in the fall, 

 and in a cold climate, the plants should be heeled in and well pro- 

 tected from cold, and- left in this position until the following spring, 

 when they should be set out in nursery rows, and in heavier soil than 

 recommended for a seed-bed, placing them fifteen to twenty inches 

 apart in the row, and the rows at a distance that will admit of cultiva- 

 tion with plow and cultivator. The trees may remain in the nursery 

 rows until four or five feet high, then removed to the place where they 

 are to remain permanently. While it is true that transplam ing usually 

 temporarily checks the elongation of the stem, the number of i-oots will be 

 greatly increased, and the plants Mill not only become more bulky, but in 

 a far better condition for making a rapid and vigorous growth in after 



