62 PRESENT STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



good soil and a poor shade will bring larger returns 

 than a poor soil and a perfect shade." 



PREPARATION OF PERMANENT BEDS 



It will be noticed that the growers all favor arti- 

 ficial shade and that the shade of trees (discussed on 

 Page 23) is not now advised. Concerning the making 

 of beds and shade Mr. Kelsey gives the following terse 

 directions : 



"The beds may be made either four or six feet 

 wide, and any length, and should always be surrounded 

 by boards firmly nailed to posts, giving a rest for the 

 lath shades. The boards used are of ordinary inch 

 boxing, and should extend two feet or more from the 

 ground. Where six-feet-wide beds are made, the lath 

 covers are made as shown in the illustration (Fig. 16) ; 

 viz., four by six feet. Ordinary laths are nailed one 

 inch apart to six-feet strips one inch thick and two 

 inches wide, and then braced. Where the bed is made 

 four feet wide, the laths are simply nailed to other laths 

 with clinching nails. The latter size, being lighter, 

 are the most easily handled covers, but the larger beds 

 and shades are the most economical of room and lum- 

 ber where the planting is on an extended scale. These 

 lath covers are to stay on all summer, to be replaced by 

 mulching and brush in winter. The beds and subse- 

 quent treatment after planting are the same for both 

 seeds and plants." 



TREATMENT OF SEEDLINGS 



It is now generally believed that the distances 

 recommended in the first part of this book for plant- 

 ing are too close. Roots two years old should be set 

 not less than six inches apart and when four years old 

 should be eight inches apart. If two-year-old roots 

 are to remain for more than two years without trans- 

 planting, they should be given plenty of room at the 



