70 FOKEST PLANTING. 



denuded of it. This is done by squeezing the kernels 

 out of the fleshy portion, cleaning them in water, and 

 thereby freeing them from all fibrous and slimy parts. 

 Then they are dried. 



Winged seeds are usually slightly trashed with a stick, 

 like those which have dry covers, but it is more safe 

 to rub them with the hands, as even the slightest beat- 

 ing may destroy the vitality of the kernels. 



Seeds with woolly covers (poplars, willows, etc.,) should 

 be rubbed between the fingers. This can easily be done 

 when the seeds, either by artificial or solar heat have 

 been dried to such a degree that the adherent parts, by 

 the touch of the fingers, can, without any efEort, be sep- 

 arated from the kernels. 



In regard to the preservation of the seeds of the prin- 

 cipal forest trees, the necessary directions are given in the 

 next chapter in treating of the seeding of the several 

 kinds of forest trees. As a general rule it may be said 

 here that most seeds of deciduous trees will be preserved 

 over winter when mixed with sharp, moist (not wet) 

 sand, and kept protected from the access of the atmos- 

 phere in a place not exposed to the cold and wet. 



If large quantities of seeds of Oaks, Beeches, Hickories 

 and other hard -shelled nuts are to be kept over winter, a 

 kind of cellar should be made in the open field similar 

 to the well-known potato cellar. A ditch about 7 feet 

 wide and 2 feet deep is dug, and the earth taken out is 

 used to build the side-walls of the cellar. Over these a 

 roof is laid of straw, reeds, or sedges. In this cellar the 

 nuts, after having been dried well, are piled up from 12 

 to 14 inches high, as soon as the cold weather sets in, 

 and they should be shoveled over during the winter 

 several times in order to prevent heating. The gable 

 ends of the roof remain open till the strong frost com- 

 mences, when they are closed with straw mats. The 

 nuts will be well preserved in such a surface cellar, and 



