36 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



operators. Some persons prefer to bury them. In this case 

 a well-drained sandy slope is chosen. The flats are placed 

 in a trench one to two feet deep, covered with a single thick- 

 ness of boards, and the trench is then filled with earth. The 

 seeds usually freeze somewhat, although freezing is not con- 

 sidered necessary unless in the case of nut-like seeds. The 

 object attained in burying is to keep the seeds moist and fresh, 

 inducing the rotting or softening of the coverings, while they 

 are buried so deep that they will not sprout. Seeds of most 

 forest trees should be treated in this way. They are com- 

 monly left in the ground until the following spring, when they 

 are taken up and sown in drills in mellow soil. If good loam, 

 to which has been added a little well-rotted manure, is used, 

 the seeds or nuts of hardy trees and shrubs may be allowed 

 to germinate and grow for one season in the flats. At the 

 end of the season or the next spring, the plants can be trans- 

 planted without losing one of them. This perhaps is the 

 best way to handle rare and difficult subjects. 



Many growers place the boxes on the surface in a protected 

 place, as under trees or in a shed, and cover them for winter 

 a foot deep with clean straw or leaves. If boxes are piled on 

 top of each other they should be mulched with^moss, else the 

 under ones may become too dry. Or the boxes may be placed, 

 without covering, in a shed, but they must be examined now 

 and then to see that they do not become too dry. Precaution 

 must also be taken to keep away mice, squirrels, blue-jays, 

 and other intruders. 



Large nut-like seeds or fruits, as peach-pits, walnuts and 

 hickory-nuts, are usually buried in sand or light loam where 

 they may freeze. Or sometimes the large nuts are thrown into 

 a pile with earth and allowed to remain on the surface. Freez- 

 ing serves a useful purpose in aiding to crack the shells, but it 

 is not essential to subsequent germination, as is commonly 

 supposed. All seeds, so far as known, can be grown without 



