THE FOREST NURSERY 97 



wise, there is little difficulty experienced in reaching half- 

 way across to destroy the weeds or cultivate between the 

 rows. Another objection to the use of a seed drill is that the 

 seeds are necessarily covered with the soil which forms the 

 surface of the bed, and unless that is loose and friable it is 

 liable to crust and prevent the tender and weak plants from 

 breaking through it. 



If the beds are four and one half feet wide and the rows 

 run lengthwise and are six inches apart, then eight rows 

 can be placed on a bed with a six-inch border next the 

 paths. This border is desirable for the reason that if close 

 to the edge the plants will suffer for water in summer and 

 be frozen out in winter. A wide board can be used for a 

 guide and the operator can walk on it. The drill not only 

 sows the seed uniformly but covers it, thus completing the 

 work at once. Crusting of the surface can be avoided by 

 giving the bed a coating that will not crust. 



Screens. The seeds being sown, they must be protected 

 from destruction by birds, germination must be aided, and 

 the tender seedlings shielded from the burning sun. All 

 these ends can be attained by using screens made of com- 

 mon wood laths used by plasterers. Procure two strips of 

 light, strong, straight-grained lumber, preferably pine, 

 one inch thick, two inches wide, and six feet long. Upon 

 these strips nail the laths crosswise, placing the laths as far 

 apart as they are wide. This will cause one half of the light 

 to be shut off. The laths should project four inches at each 

 end beyond the strips to which they are nailed, and two 

 nails should be placed in both ends of every other lath to 

 keep the screen in proper form. 



To hold the screens in place, stakes must be driven along 

 the edges of the beds, four feet apart across and six feet 

 apart lengthwise. These stakes must be driven into the 

 ground deep enough to be firm they are usually about 

 three feet long and must also project above the surface 

 from eighteen to twenty inches. Near the top, and on the 

 side next to the plants, pieces an inch thick, about two inches 



