NURSERY PRACTICE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 21 
cient, or where it is desirable to effect an economy in space, as under 
high shade frames, broadcasting is preferable. In Forest Service 
nurseries broadcasting is coming more and more into favor. 
Sowing in drills. — In the drill method the seed are distributed 
in drills from 3 to 6 inches apart and from one-fourth to one-half 
inch deep by means of a hand seed drill, or a seeding board, or 
by hand. If a seed drill is used, it has to be regulated by trial to 
sow the proper number of seed per linear foot. After the drill is 
regulated the hopper is filled with seed and the drill is pushed ahead 
in a straight line. At the Cottonwood and Pilgrim Creek Nurseries 
drills have proved twice as rapid as broadcasting. However, there 
are some drawbacks — resinous seed stick and do not feed well; the 
seed must be very clean ; it is difficult to regulate the drills so that 
they will distribute the seed evenly, especially small seed; and the 
drills are not so well suited for sowing across the beds as lengthwise. 
For drill sowing across the beds a marker, hinged seeding board, 
and a seed trough (see fig. 3) have proved highly efficient. The 
marker consists of a plank 4 feet long, 15 inches wide, and 1J inches 
thick, with two handles projecting beyond each end, and with. tri- 
angular strips of wood from one-half inch to 1 inch thick on a side 
and 4 feet long, nailed longitudinally and parallel, from 3 to 6 
inches apa*t, on its under side. By pressing these triangular strips 
or cleats into the soft earth of the prepared seed bed perfect V-shaped 
depressions can be made of the depth desired. Two men can mark 
from 100 to 200, 4 by 12 foot beds per day with this board, depend- 
ing upon the depth desired and the condition of the soil. 
The seeding board consists of two strips of board 4J feet long, 3 
inches wide, and three-fourths inch in thickness (narrow bevel siding 
is sometimes used), joined edge to edge by a small hinge at each 
end. The adjoining edges of the boards for a distance of 4 feet 
(the width of the seed beds) are beveled on the top side between 
the hinges, one edge much more than the other, so that a shoulder 
is formed on which seed uniformly distributed will remain when 
the board is dipped into the trough partly filled with seed, then 
tipped each way so that all superfluous ones will fall back into the 
trough. By varying the depth of the groove and the width of the 
shoulder on the adjoining side the board can be made to sow any 
quantity desired. One of the outer edges of the board is beveled far 
back on the under side so as to offer no obstruction when the seed 
is dipped. Two men operate it, one at each side of the bed. The 
board is dipped w T ith a swinging motion into the trough and then 
lowered and held close over the drill to be seeded; the hinges are 
bent upward, and the seeds fall into the drill. 
The seeding trough is 8 inches deep, rounded slightly on the bot- 
tom and up one side, from 10 to 14 inches wide, and 5 feet long. It 
