PREFAB ATIOST OF THE BEDS. 23 



might interfere with the young ginseng plants. It may 

 often occur that the soil, though rich in vegetable mat- 

 ter at the surface, may have practically none lower down 

 than four or five inches. In such cases, give a heavy 

 application of leaf mold and work it in well. Remember 

 that labor thus expended will be well rewarded. Should 

 there be danger of flooding, raise the beds two or three 

 inches, and protect them by boards at the sides and 

 ends. These need be only six inches wide, as a rule, 

 and may be held in place by stakes. 



The size of the nursery bed will, of course, be gov- 

 erned by the quantity of seed at hand. Do not make 

 the width more than four feet, because in wide beds the 

 centers are harder to reach than in narrow ones and the 

 difficulty of properly attending to them is thus greater. 

 A bed three or four feet wide will be found best, a? 

 every part can be reached with but little exertion. Since 

 the nursery bed is usually small and demands more fre- 

 quent attention than permanent beds, it will be better 

 to have it narrow than to use the method described later 

 on for attending to the permanent beds. The best situ- 

 ation for a nursery bed in a garden plantation is upon 

 the extreme north of the plot. It will be least exposed 

 to the sun, even when shade is provided. 



To calculate the amount of space necessary for a 

 given amount of seed, allow from nine to twelve square 

 feet for each ounce of seed to be sown. The distance 

 between the rqws, and the seeds in the rows, mentioned 

 under Planting, will account for the difference in the 

 amount of space required. 



In both nursery and permanent beds situated in the 

 forest and in beds set out in orchards or near trees, it 

 will be necessary to cut around the beds each year at least 

 once, to kill any tree roots that may find their way into 

 the ground prepared for ginseng. If neglected only one 

 year, the amount of work to be done the following year 



