CLASSIFICATION OF SEEDS. 77 



nuts are spread over the ground about 18 inches thick, and are 

 kept stirred until frozen in winter. As soon as they thaw out, 

 they are turned once a day. In this way they are prevented from 

 molding, and from the other injuries that are so common to nuts 

 stored in large quantities. It would be desirable .to keep the 

 temperature from ever going much below freezing. 



Seeds May be Classified Into Three Groups: (i) Those 

 that ripen in spring and early summer, (2) deciduous tree -seeds 

 that ripen in autumn, and (3) coniferous tree seeds. 



Seeds that Ripen in Spring and Early Summer should 

 be gathered as soon as ripe, and, with the exception of the Red 

 Elm, sown within a few days or weeks, as they retain their vitality 

 but a short time. (Red Elm seed will not grow until the follow- 

 ing spring). In raising seedlings of this class it is important to 

 have land that will retain its moisture during the summer months 

 or else that which can be conveniently irrigated, since these seeds 

 must often be sown during very hot, dry weather, and as they 

 cannot be covered deeply they are very liable to fail with any but 

 the best conditions. The thousands of seedlings of Cottonwood, 

 Elm and Soft Maple that spring up on the sand bars along our 

 rivers and lake shores show what are the best conditions for 

 these seeds to germinate. 



Cottonwood Seedlings can be grown by scattering the 

 branches bearing unopened seed pods along rows in moist soil 

 and covering the seed lightly when it falls, but they are of so 

 uncertain growth that most of our nurserymen depend upon the 

 sand bars and lake shores for their supply. . 



Blm, Soft Maple and Mulberry seeds generally grow 

 well on any good moist soil. They should be sown thickly in 

 drills eight inches wide and three feet apart, or in narrow drills. 

 Elm seeds should be covered with about one-half inch of soil, 

 Mulberry with about one-fourth inch and Soft Maple with about 

 one inch. If the weather is dry the soil over the seeds should 

 be well packed, and if the weather continues dry the rows should 

 be watered. Watering, however, is seldom necessary on reten- 

 tive soil if the soil has been properly packed. With proper con- 

 ditions seeds so planted will start quickly and grow rapidly; the 

 Elm will grow from six to eighteen inches and the Soft Maple 

 twelve to twenty-four inches high before the first autumn. Such 



