FOBEST MANAGEMENT OF LOBLOLLY PINE. 37 
stock, and rodents. A small nursery can most readily be established 
by taking a section of a well-cultivated vegetable garden. If the 
soil is droughty there should be facilities for watering it in dry 
weather. If the ground selected has not been cultivated for some 
time it should be thoroughly worked, and if lacking in fertility, 
should be enriched. 
Seed Beds and Planting Seeds. 
Before planting tne seed, carefully prepared beds should be made, 
and the soil thoroughly worked, as for lettuce. Four feet wide and 
24 feet long is the most convenient size for the beds. Parallel beds 
should be separated by walks 2 feet wide. Where the soil is light 
and dry, or very well drained, the beds can be on the same level 
with the walks, otherwise they should be elevated several inches. 
Planting in drills 4 inches apart, running crosswise of the bed, is the 
best method. By sowing 1 ounce of seed per 24 linear feet of drill, 
or about three-quarters of a pound per bed, it is safe to count on at 
least 3,000 one-year seedlings per bed, where proper attention is 
given to the work. This means 3,000 seedlings per 150 square feet 
of nursery space, including area in walks, or over 2,000,000 seedlings 
on a quarter acre. The seed should be sown in the spring, about the 
same time as early vegetables. 
Care of Beds. 
Beds should be kept as uniformly moist as possible, to insure germi- 
nation. Ten weeks after planting most of the seeds which are going 
to sprout will be well up; weeding should then commence and be 
continued through the season. The beds should be provided with 
lath screens as soon as the seed is planted. These will keep the 
seed bed uniformly moist and secure early germination. The seed- 
lings should be kept under partial shade the whole of the first season. 
Suitable screens can be made in frames u 4 1 by 12 feet, of 2 by 2 inch 
square sticks, across which laths are nailed, each lath alternating 
with an open space of the same width." These frames should be 
supported on posts so as to be about 18 inches above the seed bed. 
They should be removed only during cold, cloudy weather, when 
the seedlings need all the air possible to lessen the danger of their 
" damping off." 
Transplanting Seedlings. 
Where three-year-old stock is desired the seedlings should be trans- 
planted at the end of the first season into nursery rows, spaced 4 to 
6 inches apart in these, and allowed to grow two more seasons. 
Where two-year seedlings are desired it is unnecessary to transplant, 
1 From Yearbook Reprint 376, Dept. of Agriculture. 
