44 PRACTICAL PLANT PROPAGATION 



The drills may be any convenient distance. If to be cultivated 

 with a hoe they need be but a foot apart; but, unless cramped for 

 room, they had better be made three or four feet apart, so that 

 the space between them may be stirred with the horse hoe or 

 cultivator. 



If the planting is done in the Fall, it is better to mulch the 

 ground with straw, leaves, marsh hay, or any like material; this will 

 prevent baking of the soil after the Spring rains, and keep it in a 

 nice mellow condition. The mulching should be removed in the 

 Spring, or at least enough so that it will not interfere with the 

 growth of the young seedlings. 



The smaller seeds, such as those of Maple, White Ash, Tulip, 

 Linden, Magnolia, etc., require greater care in planting. 



Let the soil be thoroughly pulverized, then throw it up into beds 

 a few feet wide and any desirable length. Mark out and plant 

 in drills by placing a board across the bed, making the drill along 

 the edge of the board with a sharpened stick, of with the corner 

 of the hoe; then sow the seed in the drill as you would Peas or Beet 

 seed; cover lightly, then turn forward the board for a new drill. 

 The width of the board regulates the distance apart of the drills, and 

 as such seedlings are not usually allowed to grow more than one year 

 before transplanting, the board need not be more than eight or ten 

 inches wide. Mulch with straw if planted in the Fall, removing the 

 same in the Spring. 



Gathering Tree Seeds. Seeds of the nut-bearing trees are generally 

 easily gathered, but with Maple and other small seeds, gathering 

 from the ground is exceedingly tiresome. Many of the small seeds, 

 when fully ripe, may be shaken from the tree onto large sheets of 

 canvas spread underneath. 



With Maples, if the tree can be spared it may be cut down when 

 the seed is nearly ripe and first begins to fall. The seed can then 

 be rapidly stripped from the branches by hand. On small trees they 

 may often be gathered from the branches without cutting the tree. 

 In gathering, after they have fallen on the ground, the leaves must 

 first be raked off, and the seed gathered up mainly by hand picking. 



Tulip tree seed is gathered when the cones first begin to open. 

 The cones, which are made up of seeds, are usually picked from the 

 tree by an active climber. Seed of our northern Magnolia acuminata 

 develops in pods, closely resembling young Cucumbers, hence the 

 name, Cucumber Tree. These pods may be gathered after they 

 have turned a red or pink color, and begin to open showing the red 

 seeds. Spread them out in the ah- after they are gathered. In a 

 few days the seed is readily shelled out." 



