RAISING EVERGREENS FROM SEED. [21 



in winter and in the spring they sprouted in the mud and threw 

 down that taproot for which they are famous, and defied the 

 blistering sun and the hot winds with no protection whatever. 



For years I sowed them in the spring and under the screen 

 along with other Conifer seeds. But they can be sown in the 

 fall without any screen, or if you have one take it off as soon 

 as they come up. I found they damped off much more under 

 the screen than in the open. Here you have it then: You buy 

 the seed which will not exceed three dollars a pound, sow in 

 the fall or early in the spring, protect from birds and squirrels, 

 be sure they do not dry while germinating, and you can raise 

 them by the thousand. And where you make a business of 

 It they will cost you about $1.00 a thousand. If you have a 

 section of the sand-hills, raise your own plants. Let them grow 

 two or three years; then plant them out, about a thousand 

 to the acre, and your expense is light. Tou lay the foundation 

 for a fine forest ; only, have a good fireguard and keep out the fires. 



If you are raising seedlings, much depends on the quality 

 of the soil. In Franklin County, Nebraska, under the 100th 

 meridian, the soil was fine and porous and full of humus. I 

 could get river sand to cover with and I had splendid success, 

 though that section bordered on the semi-arid regions. Here 

 in York the conditions are different. The original humus is 

 worn out of the soil, and it takes time to restore it by arti- 

 ficial means; then, too, those pests of prairie loam, the angle- 

 worms, have come in. They work over the soil and leave it 

 tough and waxy, and when it dries it is like a brickbat. Then 

 we have nothing but bank sand, and if this is spread over the 

 beds, there are impurities enough in it to form a hard cement. 

 So under these circumstances we will discontinue raising any- 

 thing but the sturdy Ponderosa. 



In central Nebraska, and in the other western states, 

 buildings should be constructed for raising evergreens from 

 the smaller seeds, for by ho known process can you raise Pun- 

 gens, Engelman Spruce, or Jack Pines, as you would other 

 Conifers. Again, you cannot put these trees in the open till 

 they have obtained some size. I have often lost two-year-olds 

 by planting in the open; the reflection of the sun in a dry, 

 hot summer would burn them. When three years old they 

 would do better and you should not lose more than 5 per cent 

 in planting. We must have more evergreens for the Prairie 

 States, and each state should have stations to attend to the 

 growing of them. It is most too much to expect that the 

 average nurseryman can attend to it besides all his other work. 



I think this a good rule to follow: Instead of trying to. 

 raise Jack Pines in Nebraska from seed, let them be grown in 

 their own habitat. An open space of sand in the woods is the 



