92 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



the ground; but unless the ground lies undisturbed until 

 it is well dried out to the depth that it is to be cultivated, 

 wet lumps will be brought up and these will not pulverize 

 readily, and when they dry out they will bake and leave 

 the ground in a very unsatisfactory condition for seed-sow- 

 ing. To wait until the ground is dry enough to spade or 

 plough will, unless it is sandy, ordinarily so delay planting 

 that success will be doubtful. 



If the ground selected is full of weed seeds it will gen- 

 erally be found profitable, in the end, to delay planting for 

 a year in order to get rid, as much as possible, of the 

 weeds that will spring up from them if not destroyed, for 

 keeping down the weeds is among the most expensive items 

 in nursery work. With such a condition of the soil the ground 

 ought to be ploughed early in the spring and as soon as 

 the weeds show should be gone over with a harrow, culti- 

 vator, or heavy rake, this operation to be repeated as often 

 as the weeds show green on the surface. This frequent 

 cultivation will bring a large number of the weed seeds 

 where they will germinate, and frequent cultivation will 

 kill them. If the ground could be ploughed once or twice 

 in the summer all the better. Weeds can be destroyed 

 much cheaper in this way than by .pulling them out by 

 hand from among the little plants. If sod ground be 

 chosen it, too, should be ploughed in early spring, fre- 

 quently harrowed in summer, and about the first of Sep- 

 tember cross-ploughed and, late in the fall, spaded and 

 made into beds. If not fertile a coat of manure should be 

 applied before spring ploughing. It may seem a waste of 

 time and a loss of the use of the ground to let it appar- 

 ently lie idle for a year, but it will pay in the end. 



Sowing the Seed. When the seed-beds are prepared 

 the forest nurseryman must decide which one of two sys- 

 tems he will adopt in sowing the seeds. In making the se- 

 lection he must be governed by the condition of the soil in 

 which the seeds are to be placed and the species of trees to 

 be grown. These systems are known as Broadcast Sowing 



