34 TREE PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



so. What can possibly enhance farm values like an ample supply of fuel 

 close at hand, and a living and perpetual shield to the crops and stock and 

 inmates of the home '? 



SELECTION OF SEEDS. 



To insure success, the seeds must be of the best quality. Avoid the first 

 installment that falls, for insects may have caused unhealthy ripening. 

 Seeds from stunted, malformed or dwarfish trees may be morbid in make- 

 up; avoid them, also seeds from trees enfeebled by extreme age or other 

 debilitating causes. The trees should be middle-aged, and a little sep- 

 arated from others where they have the full benefit of the sun and air 

 which gives a full head and a healthy condition. 



TIME TO GATHER. 



Seeds should be gathered when the weather is dry, and when they fall 

 to the ground as if heavy in showers at the beating or shaking of the 

 trees. 



PRESERVATION OF SEEDS. 



It is difficult to determine the exact condition by which all kinds of seeds 

 may be preserved. By experience it has been proved that seeds will not 

 germinate if placed in vacuo or in an unbalanced atmosphere, such as hy- 

 drogen, nitrogen or carbonic acid. Judging from the duration of seeds 

 buried in the earth, and from other circumstances, the essential conditions 

 are : 1, uniform temperature; 2, moderate dryness; 3, exclusion of light. 



ART OF DRYING. 



When gathered, the seeds should be immediately spread in thin layers 

 in a dry, airy place, raking occasionally until the dampness has evaporat- 

 ed. There is such a difference in the conditions of species as to tenden- 

 cies to sprout, to heat, to rot, to perish by desiccation, or to mould, no one 

 set rule seems to be always applicable. The seedsman must be a close 

 student of nature's art of preservation, and act according to conditions and 

 circumstances. But we have some guides, which are herein mentioned, 

 safe to follow. When properly dried so as not to heat, put them into sacks 

 and keep them from drying-out by mixing with sand, hung up in airy 

 shelter. 



BOX-ELDER AND ASH SEEDS. 



As the box-elder and ash are our pioneer trees, special attention is called 

 to the management of their seeds, ripening in autumn. They ar3 liable to 

 be injured by the drying art, hence the safer way, also, for the sugar 

 maple, is to plant them in the late fall, and more seeds will thus sprout. 

 If the spring planting is preferred, the better to escape the early frosts, 

 soak in a creek or other changed water till well swelled out all ready to 

 sprout. The ash requires longer soaking. Sow in moist soil in the cool 

 of the day. A yet better way, thus avoiding the soaking process, is to 

 spread them out thin, just before winter sets in, on a smooth and well- 



