34 FORESTRY WORK 



multiples of 100 — soak them for twenty-four hours in 

 tepid water, then place a piece of good thick flannel upon 

 a tray or plate, thoroughly soak it, and place the seed 

 Tipon it. Cover them with another piece of flannel, and 

 keep them in a fairly warm place, such as a greenhouse 

 or frame heated to about 65" to 70° F. The flannel must 

 be kept constantly damp. 



In three weeks or so every good seed should have 

 germinated. These are counted out and the percentage 

 arrived at. 



The seeds may also be sown in ordinary flower-pots to 

 germinate; but the flannel method is better, as there is 

 no difficulty in finding and counting those that ha-\e 

 germinated. 



Size of the Seed-Beds. 



The beds should be no wider than about 3 feet 6 inches 



from edge to edge, so that the persons hand-weeding them 



can reach halfway from either side comfortably, without 



treading or leaning upon them. The length of the beds 



can be roughly judged from the table above. The figures 



in this column are based upon the number of plants 



expected from each pound of seed. For most coniferous 



seeds 4 yards in length by 1 yard in width, or 4 square 



yards per 10,000 plants expected. On beds 3 feet 6 inches 



wide, with lines 6 inches apart, 7 to a bed. This works 



out at 360 plants per lineal yard of drill, or 10 plants 



per lineal inch, or about 2 plants per square inch of 



ground. 



The width of 3 inches on either side of the beds will not 



