302 



SEEDING AND PLANTING 



height of shoot and the length of root of 30 species grown under 

 uniform conditions in uncrowded seedbeds on deep, fertile, sandy 

 loam at New Haven, Connecticut: 



37. The Management of the Seedbeds after the First Year. 

 Most broadleaved species are left in the seedbed but one year 

 or through one growing season, after which they are either trans- 

 ferred to the transplant bed or to the field. Coniferous species 

 remain in the seedbed for a period of from one to three years. 

 Rapidly-growing hardwoods like walnut, black locust, and catalpa, 

 unless crowded in the seedbed, often in a single year become too 

 large for advantageous use. When grown under the most favor- 

 able conditions many conifers, as illustrated in yellow pine, Scotch 

 pine, European larch, incense cedar, and Douglas fir, are removed 

 from the seedbed at the end of the first year. Under most condi- 

 tions conifers are retained in the seedbed for two years (Fig. 76). 

 At high altitudes or elsewhere where the growing season is short 

 they are retained in the seedbed during the third year. 



When the beds are adequately stocked, the seedlings shade 

 the soil after the first year and an artificial shade is not re- 

 quired. The ground is so completely covered with the young 

 trees that few weeds develop and there is but little expense for 

 weeding. 



The rapidly -growing seedlings require large amounts of water 

 during the second year. Special attention must be given to irri- 

 gation during dry periods or large losses are likely to occur. 



