106 



thereafter add the ground bone, which need not be so deeply 

 mixed. The seeds can then be sown at once, as contact with 

 the bone meal does not affect their germination or vitality. 

 From ten to fifteen pounds of bone meal and twenty-five 

 pounds of unleached wood ashes to a bed four feet wide 

 and one hundred feet long will be a moderate application. 

 If the bone is not ground very fine its effects will be felt for 

 four or five years, and an application made within three 

 years thereafter can be much lighter. 



Kainit is largely used in German forest nurseries in place 

 of wood ashes. It is an impure salt with a large amount of 

 potash in it. Its use in this country has been quite limited 

 and it has not met with unvarying success. Like ashes it 

 should be applied a few days before the seeds are sown, for 

 it is liable to destroy their vitality if in actual contact. 

 Other fertilizers are being experimented with in this coun- 

 try, but not enough is known of the results to justify an 

 opinion of their usefulness. Lime .produces good results on 

 some soils but not on all. It is not plant food of itself, but 

 releases some that would be unavailable without its aid. 

 Norway Spruce is said to be injured by it. 



Thinning-out. If seeds have been sown thickly the seed- 

 lings will necessarily be crowded. This may happen by acci- 

 dent or through a high percentage of germination, and if it 

 has occurred the plants in excess of the proper number 

 should be promptly removed, for a crowded condition not 

 only tends to disease, but the crowded plants will certainly 

 be weak and stunted, should they grow. Nothing is gained 

 but much lost by crowding in the seed-bed or in the trans- 

 plant nursery. 



Removing the Plants. In removing the plants from the 

 seed-beds and from the transplant nursery extreme care 

 should be exercised in taking them up so that their roots 

 will be injured as little as possible. We should remember 

 that roots are a positive necessity to a tree's life, and they 

 should not be destroyed when it can be avoided. There is, 

 naturally, a properly proportioned development of roots 



