254 FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



owing to the fact that the heat from the warm winds and sun affected the 

 soil more readily there than in the interior of the beds. More or less of the 

 heat and warm air penetrated under the edges of the frames and thawed 

 this part of the bed while the interior of the bed remained frozen and solid. 

 As soon as the weather would permit, the trees that had been disturbed 

 were replaced in the ground and but few of them were lost. As a whole 

 the trees came through the winter in an excellent condition. To guard 

 against the absence of snow, it will be necessary to take every precaution 

 to protect the seed beds, especially around the edges and prevent the warm 

 air from jDenetrating under the edges of the frames. This can be accomplished 

 by allowing the burlap to come well down to the ground on each side and 

 fasten it there by means of dirt or lath. If this precaution is taken very 

 little heaving will occur as the ground, in all parts of the bed, will remain 

 frozen except during a long continued warm spell. If we were sure of an 

 abundant supply of snow and long continued cold weather such precautions 

 would not be necessary. 



In the latter part of April, we received two shipments of nursery 

 stock from Germany. These shipments consisted of ioo baskets which 

 contained 701,000 two-year old white pines and 50,000 one-year old Scotch 

 pines. These trees were set out in transplant beds. Each bed was forty 

 feet long and four feet wide, and each was fertilized with about five bushels 

 of thoroughly salted stable manure, which was spaded into and thoroughly 

 mixed with the soil. The trees were planted in rows six inches apart and 

 were spaced four inches apart in the rows, making a little over 1,000 trees 

 to each bed. 



The spring season was cool and wet. Repeated rains occurred during 

 the time of transplanting, hence every condition favorable to the success 

 of the plantation was experienced. The only adverse condition was from 

 the fact that the rains were too copious, with the result that the ground 

 became so thoroughly saturated, that wherever the beds were made or the 

 planting done with the soil too wet, it afterward became very hard and 

 difficult to cultivate. As a whole, however, the transplanting was very 

 successful, not more than three per cent being lost from failure to grow, 

 although the trees had been out of the ground over four weeks in coming 

 from German v. 



