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shelled nuts, like the chestnut, will, if exposed to sun and air, dry in a few hours enough 

 to prevent growth. So nuts must be kept in earth or on the earth under mulch, or in 

 something that will prevent drying till used. Peat, moss, old straw, dust, etc., will do. 

 A very good way is to spread them in a thin layer upon the ground, or in a trench so 

 located that water cannot stand among them, and cover them thoroughly with mulch, 

 planting them at corn-planting time, and about as deep as corn is planted. 



" The hard seeds are generally somewhat slow to germinate, and need to be in soak 

 for a long time, to be frozen wet, or to be scalded before planting, or to be treated with 

 some substance to hasten germination. This class embraces honey-locust, which is kept 

 dry and planted in spring, will seldom ever grow the first year, and sometimes will not 

 sprout till the third season ; also the stones of cherries and plums and even the seeds of 

 apples and pears. If mixed with sand (two parts of sand to one seed by bulk) and 

 dampened fully, and subjected to moderate freezing through the winter, all this class 

 except honey -locust, coffee-nut, the hawthorns, and red cedar are likely to grow the season 

 planted. For these exceptionally hard cases water, heated to boiling, is poured over 

 them, and, standing upon them for an hour or two, some may swell, and can then be 

 picked out and planted, and the more incorrigible treated to another scald, and thus till 

 they all swell, or they are planted in fall and left to grow when they will ; or, in case of 

 haws, they may be mixed into bran-mash and fed to sheep or cattle, and the droppings 

 planted, when the seeds, softened by the digestion, are likely to grow. 



■" The soft seeds, comprising all not named in the two other classes, may be still 

 further divided into spring, fall, and winter seeds, each of which require or permits 

 different treatment. The spring seeds are those which ripen in spring or early summer, 

 as silver or red maples and red and white elm, all ripening from -May 15th to June 5th, 

 and the rock-elm a little later than the others. These seeds will not keep well and should 

 be gathered from the trees before they fall, except where they are so situated that they 

 may fall into still water, when, being light and floating, they may sometimes be scooped 

 up in large quantities. As soon as possible after gathering they should be planted, not 

 covered deeply, say one-half inch, in good mellow soil ; and if a fine mulch, like damp 

 chaff, can be obtained, it should be lightly spread over the ground, which sometimes takes 

 place in June. 



" The winter soft seeds are ash-leaved maple, green and black ash, sycamore, bass- 

 wood, etc., or those seeds which have a tendency to hang all winter in sheltered localities. 

 These seeds may be gathered sometimes as late as planting time and immediately planted ; 

 but if gathered earlier, had better be spread thinly upon the ground, and covered till 

 planting time. All others of the soft and winged seeds, not classed as spring or winter, 

 are the soft fall seeds, and they should all be stored as directed for the nuts. Hackberry 

 and cherry, though properly classed with the hard seed, should be freed from their pulp 

 in fall and stored in earth to freeze, and planted in spring without scalding. All seeds, 

 but nuts, which are large enough to pick up readily, and such as may be gathered floating 

 on stUl water, as noted above, are best gathered from the trees and stored so as not to dry 

 too much. They must not be kept in too large masses, as, so dealt with, they may heat 

 and spoil. 



" If ground is not very weedy, it may be economy to plant all seeds in permanent 

 plantation ; but in old or weedy ground it is generally best to grow them in seed-bed or 

 nursery rows. If put in the permanent plantation, allowance should be made for poor 

 seeds, and more planted than you want of trees. The question of check-row or drill 

 planting is to be decided by the planter, and the same reasons which determine the man- 

 ner of planting corn have weight in forestry, though, generally speaking, forestry is more 

 satisfactory in drills than is an annual crop like com. If check-rows are used, several 

 seeds per hill are desirable; and if drills, generally twice or three times as many seeds as 

 you need trees should go in. It is ndt worth while to put tree seeds into any but mel- 

 low, moist soil, and to secure good results with them, thorough culture the first year is 

 necessary. A rule of depth sometimes given is to cover with soil as deep as the seed 

 is thick, and that is of course very thin for small seeds. But seeds of trees often get 

 covered too deep, and any seeds but the nuts ought to grow with half an inch of fine earth 

 lightly packed above the seed. Nuts may be planted a little deeper, but not much. 



