100 

 CHAPTER XII. 



GROWING TREES FROM SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS. 



The practice of growing trees in school grounds is one that should be followed 

 at every school where the requisite facilities are present. The following instruc- 

 tional notes will be of service to teachers and pupils. 



The chief advantages of raising trees from seed over obtaining them as small 

 plants from a distant nursery may be summarised as follows: — 



(a) The cost is less. 



(b) Varieties especially suited to the district may more easily be obtained. 



(c) The trees, when ready for planting out, are acclimatised. 



(d) The time which must elapse between removing a tree from the pot or 



bed where it has been growing and planting it in its permanent place 

 is very much reduced, and the tree, consequently, suffers less check. 



(e) It is possible to sow some seeds in the places where the trees are to re- 



main, and so to avoid the necessity for transplanting. 



(f) The most suitable weather for planting may be chosen. 



(g) Greater interest is taken by the children in trees which they have raised 



from seed. 

 (h) The educational value of the work is far greater, and the practice of 

 tree-raising and tree-planting is more likely to spread from the school 

 to the children's homes. 

 These advantages are so great that any teacher desiring to improve his school 

 surroundings by tree-planting will be amply repaid if he adopts this method. 



Care of the Young Trees. 

 With a little experience and reasonable care, trees can be raised successfully 

 at schools. The seeds should be sown thinly and not too deeply, in a box, or bed, 

 of light sandy loam. When the plants are a few inches high, they can be pricked 

 out, and replanted in pots or tins which are well drained. There is a. great ad- 

 vantage in thus having them ready for planting out in their permanent positions. 



Transplanting. . 



Acacias and EucalyjJts. — -As soon as seedling acacias and eucalypts begin to 

 get their second pair of leaves, they should be removed from the seed bed, care 

 being taken not to break the roots, and transplanted singly into the tins or pots 

 which have been prepared for them. The tins or pots should be placed side by side 

 on a piece of very hard ground or asphalt over which a thin layer of gravel or 

 coarse sand has been spread, and shall be filled with a mixture of light soil and 

 leaf mould, if the latter is obtainable. A hole should be made with the finger or 

 a pointed stick in the centre of each tin, and the seedling should be held by one of 

 its leaves with the roots hanging down this hole. Light, slightly damp soil should 

 then be sifted around and between the roots until the hole is full, and the soil 

 should be pressed very firmly down. A space of half an inch or more should be 

 left above the soil for watering. The newly potted plants should be watered as 

 soon as possible and kept shaded from the sun for a few days. Subsequent water- 

 ings should be given only when the surface of the soil in the tins begins to get dry, 

 but every watering should be a thorough one, the tins being filled to the top two 

 or three times, if necessary. Protection from frosts will be nesded during the first 

 winter, but the plants should get as much sunshine as possible, once they have 

 recovered from the transplanting. 



As soon as the plants have reached a height of three or four inches, they may 

 be planted out in their permanent places if the season is suitable. This may be 

 done by removing the tin, taking care not to break the ball of earth containing the 



