182 JEEMANENT NUE3EEIE9. 



Absolutely speaking, for all places where there is no prolonged 

 covering of snow during the -winter, the commencement of the 

 summer rains is the best time for sowing, as every condition in 

 nature is then favourable for early germination and rapid growth, 

 and the seedhngii have the entire rainy season in which to gain the 

 strength necessary to resist the October sun and, where there is 

 a true cold weather, also the frosts of winter. But in the case of 

 some species the nature of the seed itself fixes the time when it 

 should be sown. For instance, the acorn of Quercus semecarpi- 

 folia, must be sown in the middle of the rains, when it ripens. 

 Similarly, for sal there is no other period for sowing but the com- 

 mencement of the rains. Where snow falls and lies throughout 

 the greater part of the winter, the best time for sowing is the 

 autumn, as the seeds cannot be better preserved from all harm 

 than underthe protecting covering of snow. Becoming thoroughly 

 saturated with moisture under the snow, the seeds germinate 

 during the first warm days of spring and the young plants are 

 already pretty strong by the commencement of the summer rains, 

 throughout which they continue growing on right up to mid- 

 autumn. 



For seeds that have a protracted germination, like teak in most 

 parts of India proper, ber, &c. the end and even the middle of the 

 hot weather is a good time for sowing, as germination is thereby 

 forced and takes place at the very first burst of the monsoon, and 

 the seedHngs, whether at once transplanted or kept in the seed-bed, 

 have the entire rainy season in which to strengthen themselves for 

 the unfavourable time of the year that immediately ensues. 



And generally speaking, whenever transplants from a few days 

 to two or three months old are required, the seeds should be sown 

 a sufficient number of days before the approach of the summer 

 rains. 



§ 3. Actual preparation of the beds. 



The style of seed-bed depends entirely on the method of plant- 

 ing out employed and, in pit planting, especially on the form and 

 size of the pits ; broadly speaking we can have only three kinds 

 of seed-beds : — The seedlings may be raised either (a) in ordinary 

 seed-beds, or (b) in cylindrical tubes sunk into the ground flush 

 with the surface, or (c) in ordinary flower-pots or baskets. 



A. Ordinary seed-beds. 



First of all, if necessary, the layer of soil in which the seedlings 



