BLACK WALNUT! ITS GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT. 41 
care and is more bothersome, but it avoids the rodent problem with- 
out making necessary the purchase of expensive nursery stock. After 
the nuts are gathered in the fall they should be stored for the win- 
ter by "stratifying" ; that is, they should be placed in layers sepa- 
rated bj 7 moist sand, either in a rodent-proof pit in the ground or 
in a box in a cool cellar, or some such place. Freezing once or twice 
is not detrimental, but repeated freezing and thawing while the 
nuts are in the moist sand will cause the death of the seed. The 
sand must be kept moist, particularly toward the spring, the time 
for germination to take place. The nuts must be carefully watched 
at tKis time. When they split, and the radicles appear it is time 
to plant. The stratified nuts are dug up, and those showing growth 
are carefully placed in baskets for planting. Sometimes the shells 
are loose, and the radicles somewhat developed; considerable care 
is then needed in handling and planting these nuts to prevent fatal 
injury. A shallow hole should be dug with a mattock in either a 
plowed furrow or seed spot cleared of grass, and a single nut should 
be placed in each hole, with the radicle pointed down. The nut 
should be covered about 1J inches deep, and the soil should be firmed 
over the top with the foot. Some of the nuts will remain in stratifi- 
cation, because germination either has been delayed or has entirely 
failed. These nuts should be put back in the sand and left for pos- 
sible use the next spring, for, even with the most careful handling, 
there will be some unoccupied spots in any plantation. These va- 
cancies may be filled the following spring from the supply of nuts 
in stratification, the sprouting of which may have been delayed until 
then. Because of the short time between planting and the appear- 
ance of the young trees, and because of the abundance of other 
natural foods in the spring, the danger from squirrels is a negligible 
factor, and the planting of nursery stock or home-grown trees is 
very rarely necessary. 
Planting walnut seedlings is rarely warranted, in view of the two 
cheap and simple methods above described. The expense involved 
in planting seedlings is greater than in the case of many other tree 
species, because of the long taproot which even 1-year-old trees 
possess. If for any reason it is desirable to plant seedlings instead of 
nuts, it is not difficult to grow them in a nursery. Nuts may be 
planted in the fall in a bed prepared as for any garden crop. They 
should be spaced 2 or 3 inches apart in rows 6 inches apart. The 
seedlings should be cultivated and cared for during the first year, 
and should be set out the following spring in their permanent places, 
in large, deep, properly spaced holes. Care must be exercised in the 
transplanting because of the length of the young taproot. A seedling 
left in the nursery bed for longer than one year will develop such a 
