84 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



SEEDS THAT RIPEN IN SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER. 



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 following 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. 



Elm, 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 retentive soil if the soil has been properly 

 packed. With proper conditions seeds so planted will start 

 quickly and grow rapidly; the Elm will grow front six to 

 eighteen inches and the Soft Maple twelve to twenty-four 

 inches high before the first autumn. Such seedlings are large 

 enough for permanent setting in forest plantations or wind- 

 breaks. They may be allowed to grow in the seed bed another 

 year without injury, but should be transplanted before the 

 growth of the third season begins. 



SEEDS OF DECIDUOUS TREES THAT RIPEN IN AUTUMN. 



Seeds of deciduous trees that i-ipen in autumn may be 



