THE HOME NURSERY 177 



nursery. The keys can then be pulled off the twigs at any 

 time within the next month or two, and this work can be 

 done in an open shed when outside work is prevented by wet 

 or snow. As these seeds do not germinate until the second 

 year after ripening, they must be stored in a rot-heap in the 

 open, and are best mixed with sand or leaf -mould. 



Sycamore seed may be collected in the same way as ash, 

 or picked up beneath the trees by boys. It germinates the 

 first season, and may either be sown at once, or laid up in a 

 heap until the following spring. In all the above cases the 

 ground selected for sowing should be carefully cleaned of 

 couch, or other perennial growth which will tend to foul the 

 seed-beds, and, if sown in drills, they can be kept clean much 

 easier than when sown broadcast. The seed-beds should 

 have a width of about 4 feet, or may even be dispensed with 

 altogether, provided sufficient space is left between the drills 

 to enable the hoe to be used freely between. 



The collection of Scots fir seed is a more complicated 

 matter. The cones must be pulled or cut off the standing 

 trees, or from those felled in winter. In the following spring 

 they must be opened either by artificial heat, or by spreading 

 them out on sheets of corrugated iron exposed to the sun. 

 When the cones are well opened, any seed which has not 

 fallen out must be shaken out of the open cones by stirring 

 the latter about with a broom or rake. The separated seed 

 should then be cleaned from chaff and dust, and is then 

 ready for sowing. The usual method is to mix the seed with 

 red-lead before sowing, in order to prevent it being destroyed 

 by mice or birds. The seed is first damped in a small heap, 

 the red-lead placed on top, and the whole mixed together 

 until each seed has received a good coating of the lead. 

 This seed must be sown in beds, so that careful weeding 

 and protection may be afforded the seedlings. The greatest 

 enemies to the seedlings are small birds, such as linnets and 

 finches, which will destroy the seedlings wholesale unless 

 guarded against. The only effectual method is that of pro- 

 tecting the seed-beds with a net such as that used for fruit 

 trees or strawberries. Slugs are also troublesome foes to 

 these delicate seedlings, and a dressing of soot and lime 

 should be applied from time to time when the seed is 



12 



