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2. Before planting, set the posts (2 by 4) for the screens, the posts to be 1 foot 
above surface of bed. Nail a 6-inch board close to the ground on south, east, and 
west sides of bed, and a 4-inch strip on all sides, flush with top of posts. 
Make the frame of screens of ‘‘ five-eighths” or ‘‘three-fourths” stuff, the frames to 
be 3 by 5 feet. Cover with lath set three-fourths inch apart. Over this tack thin 
sheeting. 
3. Plant the seed in drills, crosswise of the bed, 4 inches apart. A few seeds of 
each species may be sown broadcast, if desired, by way of experiment. 
Cover not more than one-half inch, and firm the soil gentiy over the seeds. A few 
rows of each species should be covered with clean river sand, same depth as others. 
If perfectly clean sand can not be had. cover all with soil. 
4. As soon as planted the bed should be shaded with the cloth-covered screens. In 
case of prolonged dry weather, before the seedlings sprout, a good sprinkling should 
be given. 
5. The bed should be kept free of weeds, and no crust should be allowed to form 
on the soil. When the seedlings are well up the cloth can be removed from alter- 
nate screens; this is to test the efiect of different degrees of shade on the seedlings. 
6. As the dry season approaches various experiments in mulching may be under- 
taken. Clean sand spread all over the bed, old straw, cut straw and prairie hay 
can be used for this purpose. 
7. In case ‘damping oft” occurs, there should be kept under a cover a supply of 
perfectly dry sand which should be sprinkled lightly among the seedlings. 
8. During the dry weather an occasional thorough watering should be given. 
When the surface soil has dried after each watering, the crust formed should be 
broken. Of course, when the seedlings are mulched no crust can form. 
At the Colorado and Utah stations the seed was sown by the writer. 
The seed bed at the Colorado station was so divided that a portion of 
each variety of seed was planted under the following conditions: 
(a) In soil— 
1. Covered with soil. 
2. Covered with sand. 
5. Covered with black loam from the mountains (almost pure 
humus). 
(b) In soil mixed with about equal parts of pure sand to a depth of 
6 inches. 
The soil used is the usual clay loam of the region, the seed bed being 
located where it could be watered when necessary with hose. 
The seed of all varieties were’ sown equally thick in the rows, the 
drills being about half an inch wide and the seed not os touching 
each other in the drills. 
Under date of July 19, Professor Crandall, the horticulturist of the 
Colorado station, writes: 
No count was made at the time of germination, so that the percentages of loss by 
damping off can only be approximated. The germination I should place at very near 
100 per cent; the young plants stood very thick in the rows, and it seemed to me 
that every seed must have produced a plant. Damping off began early and, in spite 
of all our efforts to check it, continued until most of the plants succumbed. We 
used dry sand freely and were careful in the application of water, but were unable 
to check the trouble. The trees now living are apparently in good condition, and I 
anticipate no further losses from damping off. 
