34 EUCALYPTS IN FLOEIDA. 



sible. The season of propagation is different from that of horti- 

 cultural stock, and the seedlings grow so fast that unless they are 

 disposed of within about six months they become too large to be 

 handled economically and are a dead loss, except for the few that 

 may be sold singly or by the dozen for ornamental planting. For 

 commercial planting they must be had by the thousand, since about 

 one thousand trees are required to plant one acre. 



When only a few trees are to be planted, it is cheaper to buy nur- 

 sery stock, but for large plantations it is always cheaper and usually 

 more desirable to raise the seedlings. Few nurseries are prepared to 

 fill large orders for a particular species, and prohibitive prices are 

 asked. 



The seedlings may be grown in the open in Florida, if in a protected 

 place. Seed beds should be protected from birds and animals by 

 means of three-fourths inch mesh wire netting around all sides and 

 over the top of the beds. For regulating the light and moisture 

 conditions screens made with a framework of lath and covered with 

 coarse cotton cloth or with lath spaced a lath's width will be most 

 useful. These may be easily and cheaply constructed and have the 

 advantage of being light and easily handled. \Yhen there is too 

 much light and the young seedlings are apt to dry out the screens 

 should be laid over the beds, but on damp, cloudy days they should 

 be removed so as to give free circulation of air and lessen the liability 

 to " damping off." 



For raising seedlings on a larger scale, however, a lath house that 

 affords protection from frosts in winter and from excessive sunlight 

 in summer, as well as from birds and animals, is an advantage. In 

 southern California it has been found that the best sort of lath house 

 is constructed of a framework of 2 by 4 inch scantlings securely 

 fastened to corner posts. The laths are spaced the width of a lath 

 apart and nailed on this framework diagonally. The lath house is 

 high enough to allow the workmen to stand erect in it, and has a 

 door at each end wide enough to admit a wheelbarrow. A structure 

 of this sort 30 by TO feet is large enough for 50,000 seedlings, and 

 one 60 by GO feet will shelter about 100,000 seedlings, with ample 

 room for paths. 



The best soil for seedlings is a sandy loam consisting of two parts 

 of leaf mold and one part of coarse sand. Shallow boxes, called flats, 

 which are constructed of half-inch boards, preferably heart cypress, 

 in rectangular shape about 24 inches long, 78 inches wide, and 4 

 inches deep are used as a seed bed. They have enough small holes 

 in the bottom to allow free drainage, and are filled to within half an 

 inch of the top with the finely pulverized soil previously prepared. 



