i NURSERY PRACTICE OK THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 17 
PREPARATION OF SEED BEDS. 
Where damage from rodents or birds need not be guarded against 
the seed beds may be of any desired size. They should be staked 
off uniformly and with mathematical precision. This will make 
calculations easy and will make possible the employment of uniform 
methods in subsequent work. A 4-foot width facilitates sowing, 
covering, and weeding operations. Forty inches has been found to 
be a desirable width where burlap is used as a cover. Where dam- 
age from rodents or birds is possible small beds 4 by 12 feet are 
desirable, because they are easily protected by the use of the screened 
frames, to be discussed later. 
To promote capillary action and avoid uneven settling of the 
soil, particularly where the soil is light and sandy, the beds should 
either be rolled with a heavy hand roller or thoroughly watered 
before the final leveling. The leveling and smoothing of the sur- 
face is done with a rake and should be thorough. It will help in 
securing an even covering of the seed and uniform germination, 
for an irregular surface is often responsible for seedlings appear- 
ing thickly in one spot and thinly in another. 
At one of the California nurseries a special method of leveling has 
been used. A frame 4 by 12 feet, inside dimensions, is constructed 
of 1 by 4 inch material, the boards resting on edge. This is sunk 
about 1 inch into the beds that have been spaded and raked. 
A section 3 inches wide by 6 inches long is cut out of the lower edge 
of each end of a board 1 inch by 4 inches by 5 feet, which results 
in the shape shown in figure 2. The portion of the board which is 
4 feet long and 3 inches deep is intended to fit within the 4-foot 
frame, the 6-inch ends resting upon the sides of the frame and 
serving as handles. The appearance of the frame and board in 
operation is shown in figure 2. The board, which is called the 
" planing board," is drawn the length of the bed with the projecting 
inner 4-foot portion sweeping over the loose soil. As the board is 
drawn along it may be necessary to fill in with soil any low places 
in the bed in front of it. The surface of a bed thus prepared will 
be smooth and ready for sowing. 
A slight modification of the apparatus appears to be more prac- 
tical. The frame need not be sunk into the bed, but may be rested 
on the surface of the soil. The projecting portion of the planing 
board will then have to be as deep as the frame itself. Three-inch 
material, stiff enough to retain its shape, is wide enough for the 
construction of the frames. At the Wind Eiver Nursery, where this 
system is folic wed, the lower sill of the shade frame is used instead 
of a special frame. 
63186°:-Bull. 479—17 2 
