United States Department of Agriculture, 



Forestry Division. 

 (Circular No. 6.) 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR GROWING TREE SEEDLINGS. 



The following circular has been prepared to accompany the customary distribution of tree 

 seeds from this Department. It is hoped that the instructions will be followed by the recipients 

 to the advantage of the plant material thus distributed. 



J. M. RUSK, 



Secretary. 



Sir : 



I have the honor to submit herewith a circular giving briefly such information in regard to 

 raising forest tree seedlings from seed as appears essential for a proper performance of the 

 manipulations involved. Failures are very often due to ignorance of the objects which are to 

 be attained by following instructions. 



While much must be left to the good judgment of the planter in the application of instructions, 

 a knowledge of the principles underlying his practice will safely guide him. As far as the limited 

 space of a circular permits these objects and principles have been elucidated. 



It is desirable that these instructions be placed at least in the hands of those who receive tree 

 seeds from the Department. 



Respectfully, 



B. E. Fernow, 



Chief of Forestry Division. 

 Honorable J. M. Rusk, 



Secretary. 



It may be set down as a rule, with few exceptions, that it is preferable and in the end more economical to grow 

 seedlings in the seed-bed and nursery and transiilant them, than to sow the seeds in permanent sites. 



.Success in growing seedlings is attained, tirst, by providing suitable conditions for the sprouting of the seed, and, 

 secondly, by keeping up proper conditions for the development and growth of the seedling. 



In order to know what the conditions are, the planter should have some knowledge of ho^Y the sprouting takes place 

 and how the seedling develops and grows. 



PRINCIPLES. 



Sprouting. — Water, warmth and air are necessary to bring seeds to sprouting; darkness seems also to favor sprout- 

 ing. To insure best results, the supply of heat and moisture must be moderate but even and constant. By keeping the 

 earth-cover above the seed loose, sufficient air can penetrate to aid in dissolving the food materials in the seed, and the 

 plantlet can also more easily find its way to the surface and the light. In contact with the moist warm soil, the outer 

 shell or seed-coat takes up water and swells until it bursts ; then the embryo, (germ or little plantlet), which lies imbedded 

 in the seed, begins to grow, pushes downward into the ground its rootlet and upward to the light its stem and first 



