98 PEINCIPLES OF AMERICAN FORESTET. 



a rule, thick is better than thin sowing. The seeds of 

 Box-elder, Ash, and Maple should be sown at the rate of 

 about one good seed to the square inch; Elm and Birch 

 should be sown tmce as thick. Plums and cherries sown 

 in drills should be allowed about uaejnch-afjoaLfoii-fiacli 

 g ood seed . Black Walnut, Butternut, Hickory, and 

 similar seeds should preferably be planted three or four 

 in a place, and all but one seedling cut out when nicely 

 started. If sown in drills, they should be placed from 

 three to six inches apart. Rather thick seeding does 

 not seem to be any hindrance to the making of a good 

 growth by seedlings of most of our broad-leaved trees 

 the first year, but if left thick in the seed-bed the second 

 year they are often seriously stunted. On this account 

 such seedlings should be transplanted or thinned out 

 before the beginning of the second year. In nursery- 

 planting it is a good plan to sow in freshly stirred land, 

 as the seeds are far more likely to get a good start in it 

 than in soil that has remained untilled long enough to 

 become crusty and lumpy. Then, if the seeds are planted 

 immediately after cultivation has been given, and while 

 the soil is still moist, they have at least as good a chance 

 as the weeds to start, while otherwise the weeds are soon 

 ahead of the seedlings. 



The Amount of Seed to Sow in order to obtain a given 

 number of seedlings will depend upon the quality of the 

 seed and on the soil and weather conditions at the time of 

 sowng. The quality of seed varies much in different 

 j'ears and from different trees. The only way to be at all 

 accurate is to test the seed, but as this is troublesome 

 and the seed of most of our common trees is very cheap, 

 it is seldom practised with them, and growers simply 

 plan to sow two or three times as much seed as would 

 theoretically produce the number of seedUngs desired. 



The Number of Seeds in a Poimd varies greatly with 



