CULTIVATION AND PROPAGATION 39 



should be covered according to size, the small seed liberally, 

 and large seed with more covering. The flats are kept in a 

 greenhouse or frame with temperature about 50 to 60 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. One should always water in the morning. Careless 

 watering often spoils all the seedlings during the summer. The 

 seed-flats should be protected from the hot sun. When winter 

 comes the flats may be placed in a cool frame against a green- 

 house, preferably being supplied with a line of hot-water pipes 

 to keep out the frost; if this cannot be provided, a good cellar 

 will answer. In moderate weather, plenty of fresh air should 

 be furnished. The plants must not be kept too wet, but care 

 should be taken that they do not dry out entirely. The second 

 year, about the middle of September, the strong plants may 

 be placed in pots, and planted out in spring; the smaller ones 

 may be transplanted in flats and kept for another year, potting 

 in September to be set out in spring. After two years the 

 transplanting should be repeated. 



Further advice on the propagation of conifers, particularly 

 pines, by means of seeds is given as follows by E. Bollinger: 

 "The method of propagating pines on a large scale is by seeds. 

 The seeds are sown from the end of March to May 15, depend- 

 ing on weather and climatic conditions. The ground should be 

 prepared in the fall if possible. 



"The preparation of the soil should be most thorough. It 

 should not only be plowed deep, but cross-plowed and pulver- 

 ized until it is in fine tilth and free from all lumps and stones. 

 If the land is poor, a liberal application of well-decomposed 

 barnyard manure should be plowed in, and in the fall a lighter 

 application may be given if the ground is prepared in spring. 

 The best soil for pine seed-beds is a loam. 



"When the land is properlj^ prepared, the beds are staked 

 off uniformly not more than four feet wide, slightlj^ elevated 



