﻿WHITE PINE UNDER FOREST MANAGEMENT. 51 



and air should be further excluded from the beds by tacking some 

 light covering, like building paper, around the frames and banking 

 earth about the bases. 



Seed should not be sown in the beds until after the frost is out of 

 the ground and all danger of freezing weather is past. Sowing may 

 be done when garden vegetables are planted, but if delayed until 

 too late the tender seedlings may succumb to heat. It is better, 

 however, to sow too late than too early. Germination is normally 

 very slow, and two or three months may elapse before it is completed. 

 From every pound of fertile seed about 12,000 plants may be expected. 



When the germination period is past the beds should be examined 

 from time to time, and a few days after the seedlings have begun 

 to appear the paper and the loose laths should be removed from the 

 shade screens. Unless this is done there is danger of poor develop- 

 ment and damping-off. The latter is a very dangerous fungus disease 1 

 winch may destroy all the seedlings in a bed during the first year. 

 It develops most rapidly hi moist and shady places and hi wet soil. 

 Good preventives are thorough ventilation and drying out. For this 

 reason the shade frames should be entirely removed from the beds 

 on overcast or damp days. The wire screen should be left on at all 

 times except when work is behig done. 



In dry weather the beds should be sprinkled lightly about sunset. 

 The partial shade given by the lath frames is necessary only during 

 the summer of the first year, during hot, dry days, to protect the 

 tender seedlings from sun scald and wilting and the beds from drying 

 out. While the frames should be used also to protect the seedlings 

 from heavy rains, they should be removed afterwards to permit the 

 soil to dry out. 



Toward fall the shade frames should be removed permanently, in 

 order that the seedlings may harden up for the whiter. The wire 

 screens may also be removed at that time. After the first fall of snow 

 the seedlings should be covered with a thickness of burlap, which 

 should be left on the beds until the following* spring. 



Little care is necessary during the second summer other than to 

 keep weeds out and supply the seedlings with water during very 

 dry weather. Ordinarily no protection against birds and rodents is 

 needed, nor is it necessary to cover the 2-year old seedlings for the 

 winter. 



To secure 2-1 stock the seedlings should be transplanted in the 

 spring of the third year. In doing this care should be taken not to 

 injure the roots or stems. The spade should be forced deep enough 

 into the ground to get to the bottom of the roots, and the soil which 

 adheres should be carefully shaken off. The seedlings should either be 



1 Suggestions for the prevention of damping-off are given in Bureau of Plant Industry Circular i, "The 

 Treatment of Damping-off in Coniferous Seedlings," by Dr. Perley Spaulding. 



