The Evergreen Trees oe Colorado. ii 
Eahrenheit. This may be done on a wire screen placed above a 
stove, or in an oven. 
In the case of junipers and red cedars the berries when ripe 
should be gathered and soaked for twenty-four hours in strong 
lye made from wood ashes, and rubbed on a fine sieve to remove 
the pulp. They should then be stratified by mixing them with 
moist sand which is to be kept in a box or other receptacle left 
where freezing will take place. They will not usually grow until 
the second season. 
The seed bed for raising conifers should be on light, porous 
soil with good underdrainage, but which can be kept from drying 
out. If only a small number are to be grown good garden soil 
can be suitably prepared by mixing a considerable proportion of 
fine sand with the surface two or three inches. If the soil is 
naturally sandy this would not be necessary. 
Beds about four feet wide may be laid off and the seeds 
sown broadcast or in drills or rows, scattering them about as 
thickly as with radish or onion seed, for the smaller kinds, and 
about one inch apart for the larger kinds. The planting is usually 
done in May, the seeds being covered to a depth of % to inches, 
depending on their size. 
If the soil is at all heavy or loamy in character a layer of 
fine sand should be scattered over the bed to a depth of one-fourth 
inch. The soil should be moist but not wet when the seeds are 
sown and the surface must be kept finely pulverized. Where the 
atmosphere is very dry it is often possible to retain the soil mois¬ 
ture by covering the beds with burlap fastened down with pegs. 
This will admit the sprinkling of the beds with a watering pot 
without washing the soil or disturbing the seeds. The burlap 
covering must be removed as soon as the seedlings begin to break 
through the soil. 
Most evergreens require partial shade during the first two 
or three years of growth from seed. This is usually accomplished 
by means of lath screens placed six feet above the beds, the lath 
being laid about one and one-half inches apart. In place of lath 
brush may be used laid on a framework of poles supported on 
posts of the proper height. Although free circulation of air must 
be given across the evergreen seed bed the seedlings should be 
protected from strong winds either by lath screens or by brush 
stuck firmly into the ground around the sides of the bed. Boards 
ten or twelve inches wide set on edge around the edge of the beds 
will furnish excellent protection from surface wind-sweep and con¬ 
sequent rapid drying out of the soil. 
An excellent plan to follow in raising coniferous seedlings 
is to inclose the seed beds with twelve-inch boards placed on edge, 
