used is 18 by 30 inches and 3 inches deep. It is better to plant the 

 seed in this way than in seed beds, because the boxes or pots make 

 it possible to transport the young plants to the planting ground 

 without taking them from the soil. The seedlings are very tender 

 land may easily be injured by exposure of their roots to the dry air. 

 The use of boxes also serves to keep the young trees from developing 

 taproots so long that they can not easily be transplanted. Two or three 

 seeds should be sown in each pot, or in groups about 2 inches apart 

 in the boxes, and covered with about one-quarter inch of sand. The 

 boxes should be kept moist until the seeds germinate, which they 

 usually do in about ten days. After that time they may be set out- 

 doors and the plants left to be watered by the rains, or they can be 

 housed and watered artificially. In either case the plants should be 

 watched, lest they become too wet and suffer by the fungous disease 

 called " damping off." Where the seedlings come up thickly, it is a 

 good plan to take from each pot or group all but the one strongest 

 plant, and to transfer the rest to other boxes. This should be done 

 when the plants are about 2 inches high. 



PLANTING. 



Toward the end of the rainy season, or about the first of March, 

 the seedlings will be about 6 inches high, and may then be taken 

 to the permanent site and planted out. If grown in pots, the whole 

 thing may be set in the ground, and the paper or bamboo left to 

 rot. If boxes are used, each plant should be removed from the soil 

 and set at once in ground previously prepared with plow and harrow. 

 If the ground is dry, it will be necessary to water each young tree 

 as soon as it is set out, and perhaps to continue watering for a year 

 or two, but the trees should gradually be accustomed to do without 

 irrigation. The planting of eucalypts for commercial purposes is 

 not advised where the trees can not find their own water within 

 two years. 



For woodlots a good spacing is 8 feet by 8 feet. This gives room 

 to cultivate the young trees, yet sets them close enough to grow tall 

 and clear. The plantation should be cultivated frequently for two 

 years ; at the end of that time it should be able to take care of itself. 



This method of propagation is recommended because it takes ad- 

 vantage of the rainy season to grow the seedlings and get them 

 established before the air becomes very dry. Some growers do not 

 plant the seeds until spring, and a few sow the seeds in the permanent 

 site or collect wild seedlings from an old grove. Any of these 

 methods may be followed, though the first described is apt to be the 

 surest and best. Those who contemplate planting will naturally 

 compare the cost of seedlings from a nursery with the cost of those 

 they may raise. 



[Cir. 59] 



