Management of Nurseries. 135 



Different modes are adopted for obtaining apple-seeds easily from 

 the pomace. The following is similar to that used by most nursery- 

 men. Make a box five feet wide, eight or nine feet long, and ten 

 inches deep ; leave the lower end,/^ one inch lower than the sides, 

 for the water to flow over. Place this box in the bed of a brook 

 or stream, on crossbars or scantling, with a dam above to collect 

 the water into a trough, carrying the water into the box, and pro- 

 jecting six inches over it. This trough should be made of boards 

 twelve inches wide nailed together, and the stream should be large 

 enough to nearly fill it when flowing gently. To prevent the watei 



Fig. 172. Apple-seed -washer. 



from dashing into the box too furiously, two boards are first nailed 

 together as shown at <, one board being eighteen inches by two 

 feet, and the other eighteen inches by one foot. The longer board 

 is placed on the top of the spout, and the shorter at right angles 

 across the lower end of the spout. This serves to throw the water 

 perpendicularly downwards into the box, and at the same time 

 serves to spread it out into a thin sheet. By moving this board up 

 or down the spout, the quantity of. water pouring into the box may 

 be easily controlled. 



One man stands on the board , which extends across the box ; 

 and the other carries and deposits the pomace (well pounded to 

 pieces) into the box at 4 one or two bushels at a time. The man 

 on the box then stirs the pomace rapidly with a four-tined fork, and 

 throws out the straws. The pomace floats over the lower end 

 (which is an inch lower than the sides), and the seeds fall to the 

 bottom. A few back-strokes from the lower end of the box assist 

 in the separation of the remaining pomace. In washing a " cheese " 

 that contains a bushel of seed, it is usual to wash it two or three 

 times, by using a scoop-shovel. Afterwards, the last cleaning pro- 

 cess is given to it by placing the whole in a box, and then scratch- 

 ing a four-tined fork through it a few times. A little experience wilj 



