SPECIAL SEED BEDS 21 



Special Seed Beds. In the colder states where the 

 winters are long and severe, seed beds are often used in 

 place of the open ground. These are made in some shel- 

 tered place in the open or in some building if desired. 

 Coarse sand is placed in the bottom to secure good drain- 

 age, then a layer of sand three or four inches deep on which 

 the seeds are spread. These are then covered two or three 

 inches deep with sand and allowed to remain through 

 the winter. The seeds should be placed in these beds just 

 before the ground freezes up for the winter (usually in 

 November) . . 



Care should be taken that the seed bed is placed where 

 water will not stand on it during the winter lest the seed 

 rot; also a light sandy loam is best, as the seeds are then 

 easier to separate at planting time. There should be at 

 least sufficient sand to prevent the soil from puddling and 

 sticking to the seed. Several layers of seed and sand may 

 be put together. This is often done by large companies to 

 economize space. Under such conditions there is danger 

 of the seed heating during the early stages of germina- 

 tion, and they should be shoveled over several times to 

 avoid it. Such a process could best be handled indoors. 



The seeds remain in these beds during the winter season 

 where they absorb water and swell up sufficiently to crack 

 the shell. When warm weather comes in the spring, sprouts 

 begin to appear. During these early months the bed should 

 be examined occasionally to determine the progress of ger- 

 mination. For the large seed, when the first sprouts appear 

 they should be dug up, removed to the nursery and dropped 

 from two to four inches apart in furrows prepared for them. 



