SEEDS SOILS TRANSPLANTING 47 



they do not become dried out. Cold storage is de- 

 sirable if one has access to facilities. The hazels 

 and chestnuts dry out so quickly in ordinary storage 

 that the germ is destroyed, sometimes in the course 

 of a few weeks. A good way for preserving nuts is 

 to stratify them in alternate layers with sand in a 

 box or barrel which is kept in the cellar, preferably at 

 a low temperature. Nuts may be kept in earthenware 

 jars without losing moisture to a dangerous extent, 

 but the jar should not be entirely filled and the top 

 must be removed for a moment from time to time 

 to allow change of air. We must remember that a 

 nut is an organism all full of life promises and that 

 it must breathe quite as well as a red squirrel must 

 breathe although to a lesser extent during the dor- 

 mant season. If one wishes to plant nuts in the open 

 they may be planted in the autumn, much to the 

 delight of field mice and other rodents unless the 

 facilities are such as to include protection. When 

 planting nuts which have been stored during the 

 winter it is best to put them in the ground as soon 

 as the frost is out sufficiently, allowing them to have 

 the benefit of subsequent freezing and an abundance 

 of early moisture. In order to reproduce natural 

 conditions nuts are not to be completely buried. A 

 striking object lesson in this regard occurred several 

 years ago when I planted a large number of black 

 walnuts about two inches beneath the surface. A 

 few came up in the first year, but more in the second 

 year, and a few of them in the third year, although 

 it is possible that the latter started late in the second 



