566 XXVIII. MYRTACEAE 



and otherwise the same precautions as regards soil, watering, and protection 

 should be employed. An open shed is useful for protecting the boxes of 

 seedlings during heavy rain and frosty weather or in the heat of the day. 

 One special advantage of seed-boxes is that they can be protected against 

 ants, which carry off the seeds, and white ants, which destroy the roots of 

 young seedlings : the boxes may be isolated by placing them on stones wrapped 

 in cloth soaked with kerosene oil or on stands the legs of which rest in tins 

 of water. In place of boxes, kerosene tins cut in half, with holes punctured 

 on the under side, may be employed. 



Whether raised in seed-beds or in boxes, the seedlings on attaining 

 a height of 2 to 4 in. should be pricked out 2 to 3 in. apart, either in nursery- 

 beds or in boxes, and shaded for the first two or three days. Pricking out 

 requires much care, as the seedlings are sensitive to any damage to stem or 

 roots. On attaining a height of about 6 in. they may require pricking out 

 again, or what is preferable, they may be planted individually in baskets or 

 pots made of stiff paper about 8 or 9 in. deep, or in bamboo tubes open at 

 either end, the lower end being stopped up with grass or other material ; in 

 transplanting the baskets or pots are buried bodily, the bottoms having been 

 broken open, while in the case of the bamboo tubes the plant is forced down 

 through the tube into the planting hole, the tube being removed. In this way 

 there is no disturbance of the roots during transplanting. Clay pots at least 

 7 in. deep may also be employed, the seedlings being carefully removed from 

 them, with the earth intact, for planting purposes. In the Nilgiris the system 

 of mossing is sometimes adopted, the roots of the seedling, enclosed in a ball 

 of earth, being wrapped round with moss with the object of retaining moisture ; 

 the mossed plants are placed on the ground under partial shade, regularly 

 watered, and shifted slightly every few days to prevent the roots from fixing 

 themselves in the ground. 



Where baskets, pots, &c., are employed, the preliminary pricking out is 

 sometimes dispensed with, the seedhngs being transferred to them straight 

 from the seed-beds or boxes. For planting out purposes where seedlings have 

 been pricked out in boxes the boxes of seedlings should, if possible, be conveyed 

 to the planting site and the seedlings should be removed from the boxes by 

 means of a trowel, with as little disturbance of the earth round the roots as 

 possible. If transplanting is to be carried out in a dry situation the plants 

 should be gradually hardened in the nursery by giving them more and more 

 sun and less and less water. 



Planting and s'pacinrj. In India the best time for planting is about the 

 ]>cginning of the rainy season, and for forest purposes seedlings about 12 in. 

 in height are the most suitable. Winter planting has been tried in the Hima- 

 laya, but the results were less successful than in the case of monsoon planting. 

 It is advantageous to dig the pits two or three months beforehand and expose 

 the soil ; in low-lying or swampy ground it may be found advisable to plant 

 on slightly raised mounds. 



The question of spacing is somewhat debatable, and probably (he only 

 tlefinite conclusions arrived at so far in India are in respect of the blue gum 

 ])iantations in the NiJgiris, where in the earlier years various spacings from 

 6 ft. by 6 ft. to 9 ft. by 9 ft. were adopted. At first opinions varied as to 



