SEEDS A^D SEED-GROWTH. 11 



used also for cuttings, their structure will be given in the 

 chapter devoted to growing plants from cuttings (65). 



13. Shaded Beds for Seed-planting. Some of our culti- 

 vated trees and plants, that under natural conditions drop 

 their seeds in forest shade, seem to require the same pro- 

 tection when propagated in open exposure. This is 

 specially true in interior climates, such as the prairie 

 States, with such trees as the conifers and the birches. 

 For shading the beds, lath frames for the top and sides 

 are now generally used. Amateurs and smaller growers 

 use beds four feet wide covered with lath frames four feet 

 square, only eighteen inches above the bed, with sides 

 lathed to exclude the birds. Larger growers erect a 

 framework high enough to work under, covering the top 

 and sides with lath, with three-quarter-inch spaces between 

 them. 



Fig. 2 shows the plan of making the lath screen, and 



FIG. 2. Lath Screen. 



Fig. 3 gives the plan of lath-covered shed for sheltering 

 seed-beds from the direct rays of the sun and to lessen 

 evaporation. These are made large enough for a number 

 of beds, highest in the centre, to run off surplus water 

 from rains into the slightly sunken paths between the 

 beds. The seed is sown in drills very shallow, and the 



