SEEDS AND SEED-GROWTH. 5 



the top about four inches under the earth, where it will 

 freeze solidly if at the north, or be kept moist if at the 

 south. It is practised with hard, bony seeds that are in- 

 jured or ruined by drying, such as pits of plum, cherry, 

 honey locust, Kentucky coffee-tree, some of the shrubs, 

 and seeds of the small fruits and roses. If well mixed 

 when stratified, it is usual to sow the seed and sand together 

 in the spring. 



Such nuts as the hazel, filbert, chestnut, acorns, and 

 hickory nuts, it is best to mix with sand and store in a 

 cool cellar, protected by covering from rats and mice. But 

 kept in this way the nuts will usually sprout early in the 

 spring. For this reason we have practised planting when 

 the ground has thawed out three inches deep in the spring. 

 Such nuts as the black walnut, English walnut, and but- 

 ternut are provided by Nature with a covering that holds 

 moisture as it decays. It is best to cover these, as spread 

 out in thin layers in a grove, with forest leaves for early 

 spring planting. Seeds that require to be kept moist should 

 be stratified very soon after gathering, and the pits of the 

 stone fruits should be washed to free them from all traces 

 of pulp, followed by partial drying before mixing with the 

 sand. If not washed and partly or wholly dried, the ad- 

 hering pulp often develops fungus growth that is destruc- 

 tive. If the stone fruits rot in boxes or piles and the pits 

 are washed out and dried, they rarely can be made to ger- 

 minate on account of fungus injury. 



6. Soaking and Scalding Seeds. Dry commercial seeds 

 of the apple and pear are soaked at the North about twelve 

 hours, just prior to a night of low temperature, during the 

 latter part of winter. The water is then drained off, the 

 seeds mixed with sand and placed outside in shallow 

 boxes to freeze solidly. While frozen the boxes are placed 

 on the north side of a building and covered with straw to 



