98 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



wide, and six or eight inches long should be nailed hori- 

 zontally to the stakes, on which the screens can rest when 

 used for shading. In nailing on these pieces, place those on 

 one side of the bed two inches lower than on the other, so 

 as to give a slight slope to the screens. This will cause some 

 of the rain falling on them to be carried off when there is a 

 heavy downpour. While the principal use of the screens is 

 to shade the plants, they can be used for other purposes as 

 will be seen. 



Protecting the Seeds from Birds. There are sections of 

 the country where birds commit serious depredations on the 

 seed-beds and some method must be adopted to prevent them. 

 A recent practice is to coat the seeds with red lead, which 

 the birds possibly (?) recognize as a poison. The seeds 

 should be moistened and enough dry lead added, and thor- 

 oughly mixed to give a fair color. The lead does not ap- 

 pear to in any way affect germination. While not ex- 

 pensive the system requires some labor and care, for the 

 lead and seeds must be well mingled and the latter dried 

 before they can be sown with a drill. It will not protect 

 from mice and squirrels, nor always from birds. Full and 

 complete protection can be secured if the screens already 

 described are used to aid germination. 



Aiding Germination. Germination is best secured by a 

 continued moist condition of the soil in the seed-bed. With- 

 out moisture germination will not take place, and if once 

 begun and then arrested, through evaporation, the seed's 

 vitality is either generally impaired or entirely destroyed. 

 There is generally an abundance of moisture in the soil in 

 the spring of the year, and if moderate rains are frequent, 

 nothing need be done to retain it; but there is sometimes 

 a dry period at that time, and, if so, the germination of 

 seeds with hard shells is greatly delayed, and partial or 

 complete failure may ensue. 



The most satisfactory known method of controlling the 

 moisture of the seed-bed is to place the lath screens, already 

 described, over the beds, elevated only one or two inches 



