15 



lings, in a measure, keeping down weeds, preserving moisture and 

 lessening the quantity of leaves needed to cover the beds in the fall. 



In beds that have been sown broadcast, the raising of even-sized 

 seedlings excepting by chance is nearly impossible. The seedlings on 

 the edges of the beds are larger, more vigorous and possess a more 

 healthy color, than the dense masses near the centre of the beds. 

 From broadcast sowing it is possible to secure a larger number of 

 seedlings per bed, but the beds present an uneven appearance. The 

 north and east ends of the bed have seedlings several times larger 

 than those of the centre, and those on the south side are likely to be 

 dwarfs and possess a less healthy color, though this may have been 

 caused by exterior conditions. Where the seed had been sown in 

 drills these conditions do not exist to such great degree. 



It has been said that broadcast sowing chokes out weeds, but in 

 this State our sowing season is in the latter part of April, after plant 

 life has started. Even if we soak the seed, germination does not take 

 place for three weeks. During this time the weeds have a good start, 

 and from this time on a proportionately larger number of young seed- 

 lings are pulled out by weeding in broadcast sown beds than from 

 those sown in drills. For this reason alone one would think that - 

 broadcast sowing would be inadvisable except in old beds where weeds 

 have been greatly subdued. The cost of this method of sowing is so 

 large as against drill sowing, except as above, that it would be in- 

 advisable. 



The cost of making a bed 100 feet by 4 feet averages one dollar, 

 and the cost of the seed |14.40, making an initial cost of |15.40, not 

 counting the cost of sowing and weeding. Ideally, allowing one seed- 

 ling per square inch, this bed should give fifty-seven thousand six 

 hundred seedlings, over half of which would be lost in weeding, and 

 from damping off and other causes. In clayey soil after a heavy 

 rain with bright sun following, the soil would bake and nothing 

 could be done. If a drought should follow under these conditions, 

 as it generally does, the soil could not be loosened artificially. In 

 drill planting the baking of the soil can be remedied, and the initial 

 cost of a bed 100 feet by 4 feet is seven dollars and forty cents. There 

 would also be from fifteen to twenty thousand plants with a greater 

 likelihood of surviving. For this illustration two dollars are allowed 

 as the cost of white pine seed per pound, using one and eight-tenths 

 pounds per hundred feet broadcast and eight-tenths of a pound in 

 drills. Of course drill sowing will increase the bed surface needed, 

 but not necessarily increase the cost of working the nursery. More 

 beds could be weeded per day, the time gained could be applied to 

 cultivation, and in the end labor would be saved, more thrifty and 

 vigorous seedlings would be produced suitable for planting both in 

 brush and cleared land, and be more satisfactory to the nurseryman 

 who raises them. 



