MASSACHUSETTS TREE PLANTER 



The size of the nursery is the only limit to the length of the 

 beds, and they may conveniently be several hundred feet 

 long. Between the beds two-and-a-half to three feet should 

 be left for paths, which should lie three to four inches be- 

 low the surface of the beds. The actual construction of the 

 beds is similar in all ways to that of a garden bed. 



The preliminary preparation of the soil can be done either 

 in the fall or in the spring, though it is often advisable to 

 have the land at least plowed in the fall ; but the making up 

 of the beds should not be done until spring. As soon as 

 the beds and paths are in shape, the nursery is ready for 

 sowing. This process is discussed farther on in detail for 

 the several species, and need not be considered here. 



Each bed after being sown should be gone over with a 

 small roller, or else have the soil firmed with a board or a 

 hoe. Ordinarily the seeds of forest trees germinate and 

 start to develop within the forest, and usually under a cover 

 of leaf litter or duff. For this reason in the forest nursery 

 it is necessary to approximate the conditions found in nature 

 and to furnish the seeds with a protecting cover, which, by 

 preventing rapid evaporation will conserve the soil moisture 

 indispensable for their germination. A mulch of leaves or 

 straw is customarily used for this purpose. This mulch 

 should be thickly spread over the beds, soon after they are 

 planted, and allowed to remain until the seedlings appear. 

 It is important that the beds be frequently examined during 

 this period, and the mulch be removed as soon as the seed- 

 lings break through the soil ; or the shoots will be dwarfed, 

 perhaps smothered completely. After the mulch is removed 

 and the seedlings well started the beds will require weeding 

 at more or less frequent intervals. Where the young plants 

 stand too thickly they must be thinned out. It may very 

 likely happen, that the seedlings will need watering during 

 the course of the summer, for, while tree seedlings are not 

 so greedy in their demands for moisture as many herbaceous 

 plants, yet in dry spells they should be watered. With this 

 contingency in view, it is always well to locate the nursery 

 within reach of a supply of water. 



On the approach of winter the beds should be covered 



