FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 233 



the seed is sown and covered by hand. The rows are seven inches apart, 

 but after one year the alternate rows are taken out. The seeds are sown 

 thickly, so that the plants will stand about four inches apart. 



Needle-plants are shipped in large, cylindrical baskets — Scotch pine, one year 

 old, 15.000 in a basket; Avhite pine, one year old 30,000; two years, 10,000; three 

 years, 7.000; and Norway spruce, two years, 15,000- three years, 8,000. Paper is 

 laid in the basket, on the bottom and around the sides, next to which is placed 

 a layer of moss. A bunch of straw is then placed vertically in the center of the 

 basket. The plants, which are tied into small bundles before taking them from 

 the field, are placed in the basket with their tops towards the outside. From the 

 center to the side of the basket three circular rows of bundles can be placed, 

 which, however, overlap each other at one end like the shingles on a roof. Each 

 layer of bundles is covered with loose turf before the next layer is put into the 

 basket. The bunch of straw standing in the center permits the escape of heat, 

 the paper prevents the escape of moisture, while the moss and turf hold the 

 water that supplies the necessary moisture during transportation. 



"When a shipment is to be made the plants are lifted from the beds during 

 the day, tied in small bundles and each bundle buried lightly in the earth, this 

 work being done usually by women. Then in the evening the bundles are gathered 

 and hauled to a cellar where they are packed in baskets the next day for ship- 

 ment. Two men pack from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 plants (one and two years old) 

 in a day. The baskets are then weighed, loaded on wagons and hauled to the 

 railroad station, which at Halstenbek is close by the nurseries. Broad-leaf trees 

 are put up in large bundles and wrapped in straw for shipment, the roots covered 

 with burlap. The proprietor of a large commercial nursery at Knittelsheim, in his 

 instructions to purchasers, says: 



"Plants should be taken from the railway station promptly after their arrival. 

 If they cannot be planted immediately they should be heeled in, care being taken 

 that the roots are properly covered with earth. During transportation, whether 

 on the railroad or on the delivery wagons, the plants should be covered with 

 straw or otherwise sheltered from the sun and winds. If, on account of frosty 

 weather, they cannot be set out immediately, they should be put in a cellar in 

 upright position close together. Plants which arrive in a heated condition, as some- 

 times happens with Scotch pine, should be treated the same way. Immediate 

 watering while stored in damp cellars must be avoided, or the roots will become 

 rotten; and in no case should frozen plants be put in a warm room. It is also 

 dangerous to hold a Scotch pine yearling in the hand longer than necessary, as 

 the warmth will affect it unfavorably. Shortening the roots will, in most cases, 



