14 



No seed should be sown until several weeks after fertilizers have 

 been sown^ and where kainit is to be used in mixture, that is, in con- 

 nection with a highly nitrogenous product, all but the nitrogenous 

 product should be sown the fall before. Concerning lime and nitrate 

 of soda I add the following, especially concerning the nitrate of soda. 



A tree is a slow growing plant and soluble salts, as nitrate of soda, 

 leach away before they can be assimilated by the plant. Eegarding 

 lime, except as a mechanical ingredient in compost heaps, no con- 

 clusive results have been found, except in the case of three hard 

 woods. Cherry, linden, and American elm appeared to be benefitted. 



My experience has been that all conifers suffer from the use of 

 lime. Even from the use of diluted Bordeaux mixture as a fungicide 

 in the endeavor to check ''damping off" the coniferous plant suffered. 



BEOADCAST SOWING vs. DRILL PLANTING. 



RALPH E. BROCK, Forester. 



In the raising of seedlings for commercial purposes, the idea of 

 importance is to raise the greatest number of even sized, vigorous, 

 and thrifty seedlings on the smallest possible area at the least ex- 

 pense. 



Whether this can best be accomplished by sowing the seed broadcast 

 or in drills, depends largely upon the character of the soil in the ger- 

 minating beds, the moisture conditions of the locality surrounding, 

 as influencing the amount of soil moisture in these beds, the species 

 to be raised and the character of the location in which they are to be 

 finally planted. Broadcast seeding is most practicable where the 

 land has been under a system of thorough tillage for several years, 

 in which weeds have been effectually subdued, the water table raised 

 by successful cultivation, and where the drainage conditions are such 

 that excessive moisture easily and quickly passes away. These con- 

 ditions would most likely be found in soil that varies from a sand to 

 a sandy loam, and where the surface water of the higher ground sur- 

 rounding the nursery site is drained away from the beds naturally 

 or artificialy. Drill planting is successful under a wider range of 

 conditions, the four to six inch space between the drills renders weed- 

 ing less difficult, permits cultivation at all times, and, in times of 

 drought, where there is no adequate water system at hand, allows one 

 to break the soil to facilitate capillary attraction of water from the 

 sub-soil. Again, billets of wood may be laid between the rows of seed- 



