NOTIONS ON ARTIFICIAL RESTOCKING. 213 



of conifers, it is better to make them with a plank 

 as follows. After having well broken up the soil at 

 the surface and made it even with a rake, the 

 nurseryman places this plank on the ground; it 

 should be pretty thick, about ten inches broad, and 

 fitted on the under side with two parallel bars 

 hollowed out in the shape of a gutter. By treading 

 on the plank or otherwise pressing it down, the bars 

 are forced into the ground. On taking up the plank 

 two trenches are seen, each consisting of two furrows 

 separated by a slight ridge. The seed is sown along 

 the top of the ridge, and falls down on each side into 

 the furrows. Nothing more now remains to be done 

 but to cover the seeds over with mould or fine earth 

 of good quality. 



The advantage of this method consists in a great 

 saving of seed and its regular distribution. The 

 young plants springing up in one line, do not inter- 

 fere with one another, and develop freely on each 

 side. In sowing broadcast or in slightly wide 

 trenches, the inside plants soon begin to suffer, 

 especially if the seeds have been sown thick. A 

 large number remain sickly, and are fit to use only 

 after transplanting. Hence when the plank is not 

 employed, it is expedient to make the trenches 

 narrow, to leave a space of four to six inches between 

 two consecutive trenches, and to sow the seed in a 

 single row in such a manner that they may touch 

 one another if large or be a few millimetres apart if 

 they are small. 



With the exception of seeds very difficult of 

 ^preservation, such as those of elm, birch, alder, 



