Growing and Planting Hardwood Seedlings. 



21 



of walnut, oaks, hickories, chestnut, beech, basswood, sugar maple, 

 and some other trees, the seed of which does not keep well if stored 

 dry. If a large quantity of the nut seed is to be stored, it may 

 simply be tlirown on the ground after the advent of cold weather, in 

 a layer 2 or 3 inches deep, and covered with sand, leaves, or forest 

 litter, and then with a layer of dirt. The dirt should be rounded off 

 so that water will not stand on it, and the w r hole pile may be covered 

 with boards to prevent the soil from being washed away. It may be 

 preferable to dig a shallow pit 6 inches or more in depth, in which to 

 place the seed, and then use the same method of covering. In either 

 case, the situation se- 

 lected should be such 

 that water will not 

 collect and stand upon 

 the pile. 



When there is only 

 a small quantity of 

 seed, or when the seed 

 itself is rather small, 

 it may be stored in 

 a box of moist sand. 

 First, a layer of sand 

 about 1 -inch deep 

 should be put in the 

 box, then a layer of 

 seed 1 inch thick, an- 

 other layer of sand, 

 and so on until the 

 box is full. The box 

 should be buried out 

 of doors, at a depth 

 of a foot or more, 

 and covered with 

 leaves and soil. A 

 well-drained location 

 should be chosen. In the spring the sand may be separated from the 

 seed by screening. Very small seed, such as that of birch, may be 

 placed loose in small cloth sacks and these alternated with layers of 

 sand. 



Seed stored in any one of these ways should be examined occasion- 

 ally to see that it is not being disturbed by rats or mice. It must be 

 watched very carefully in the spring, for, with the coming of warm 

 weather, it is likely to germinate or to mold and heat. It must be 

 sown either in the nursery or in the field at the very earliest possible 

 opportunity after the frost is out of the ground in the spring. 



FIG. 13. Lombardy poplar windbreak, 11 years old, 30 feet high. 

 Finney County, Kans. 



