UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION No. 134 



Washington, D. C. 



Autust 1941 



NURSERY PRACTICE FOR TREES AND 



SHRUBS SUITABLE FOR PLANTING 



ON THE PRAIRIE- PLAINS 



By H. E. Engstbom, associate forester, Prairie States Forestry Project, and J. H. 

 Stoeckeler, associate silviculturist, Lake States Forest Experiment Station l 



CONTEXTS 



Page 



Tree planting in the prairie-plains region 1 



Collection and handling of seed 4 



Importance of seed source 4 



A seed zoning plan 7 



Classes of fruits 9 



Seed collection 10 



Seed extraction and drying 13 



Storage and af terripening of seeds 18 



Treatments to stimulate et-rmination 22 



Seed testing 30 



Summary of collection and handling prac- 

 tices 33 



Selection £nd maintenance of the nursery site . . 33 



Topography and location . 40 



Soil texture 40 



Chemical composition and soil analyses _ __ 43 



■ial problems in alkaline soils 44 



Minimum fertility requirements _________ 48 



Maintenance of soil fertility 



The water supply 54 



Quantity and quality of water required. 5 1 



Sources of supplemental water 58 



Ditch irrigation 62 



Overhead irrigation 71 



Ground preparation and seed sowing 72 



Preparing the soil 72 



Row sparine 73 



Season of sowing . 74 



Depth of sowing 76 



Sowing ratios to determine density of sow- 

 ing 76 



Sowing methods^ 80 



Germination and seedling culture 84 



Care during germination 84 



Thinning 87 



Controlling size and quality of seedlings, . . 87 



Cultivation .___ ._ 90 



Irrigation 91 



Hardening off 93 



Top pruning to increase survival 94 



Page 

 Special methods of growing plant ine stock 95 



Propagation in beds 



Transplanting . 



Propagation by cuttings 



Wildings and root suck.r.- LOO 



Summary of nursery operations 101 



Xurscry inventory _* 104 



Lifting and field grading 105 



Lifting practice and equipment 105 



Grading technique .____ 106 



Practical value of caliper in grading decidu- 

 ous seedlings 109 



Grading standards for various species ____ 112 

 Winter storage and shipping of nursery stock 118 



Inside storage. ._. " 119 



Outside storage 120 



Packing and shipping 

 Seedling protection 



Wind 



Rain and hail 



Heat I3.i 



Drought 131 



Frosts 131 



Losses occurring after lifting 



Insects feeding on the roots 



Girdling and leaf-feeding insects 



Sap-sucking insects 



Injurious mammals and birds ... 139 



Pathology of deciduous seedlings 144 



Selection of nursery sites 144 



Damping-off ... 



Root rot. 147 



Leaf disease- 14* 



Top blight and wilts 150 



Miscellaneous diseases 



Storage problems 

 Nursery costs 153 



Literature cited 

 Additional references 

 Reference list of tree and shrub species 158 



TREE PLANTING IN THE PRAIRIE-PLAINS REGION 



In many sections of the country where native hardwood forests or 

 prairie grasslands were formerly extensive, unwise use oi the land has 

 deprived the soil of its original protective cover. Over a Large pari 



! Maintained in cooperation with the University of Minnesota at Bt. Paul. Minn. 



297878 -41 1 1 



