38 



growing in it receive a series of checks iii their progress towards matu- 

 rity. Draining removes all these evil consequences. 



Briefly, it may be stated that some of the advantages of draining are 

 the removal of superfluous water from the soil, thus keeping the tem- 

 perature of the earth near the surface at its normal state. This makes 

 early planting possible, and hastens the growth of the crops; it equal- 

 izes the temperature of the land; it equalizes the moisture of the soil, 

 and growing plants are thus, to a great degree, exempted from the 

 evils which follow either deficiency or excess of rainfall ; the roots of 

 plants are more generously supplied with soluble food carried down by 

 rains; the formation of plant food is increased by admission of air to 

 the soil; the land is more economically worked, and cultivation suffers 

 less interruption at all seasons, and, as a consequence, crops are in- 

 creased to their maximum production, at least so far as they are de- 

 pendent upon the physical condition of the soil, a factor of equal impor- 

 tance with that of its chemical constitution, and one which is greatly 

 underestimated. 



SOWING SEEDS AND KAISING YOUNG PLANTS OF FOEEST 



TREES. 



Seeds should be sown as soon as practicable after they are ripe. 

 They will vegetate sooner if sown immediately after being gathered 

 from the plant than they will at any other time. Exposure to the air 

 hardens their outside coverings, which tends to prevent germination, 

 so that the time required for a seed to germinate after being sown de- 

 pends greatly upon the amount of drying and exposure to the air to 

 which it has been subjected since gathered from the plant. But it is 

 not always practicable or convenient to sow seeds immediately after 

 they are gathered. Some ripen so late in the season that they can not 

 be sown immediately on account of frost; therefore the alternative is to 

 preserve them in the best manner to retain their vitality and facilitate 

 speedy germination when sown. Among those which do best when 

 sown in the fall are the seeds of the peach, cherry, chestnut, hazelnut, 

 walnut, hickory, oak, horse-chestnut, Judas tree, hackberry, yellow 

 locust, Osage orange, and the magnolia. These mostly form very hard 

 shells when exposed to the air for a length of time, and are afterwards 

 very slow to vegetate. If they have to be kept over winter for spring 

 sowing they should be kept from the air by mixing them with dry sand, 

 and kept in a cool, ventilated shed or cellar. If kept damp and warm 

 they will either vegetate prematurely or decay. Acorns are specially 

 liable to lose their vegetative power by exposure to dry air. They can 

 be best preserved by spreading them on the surface of the ground in 

 the open air and covering them with 1 or 2 inches of light soil or sand, 

 but no water should be allowed to lodge around them, otherwise decay 

 is certain. 



