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Outdoor Problems of the Householder: Collect
Or they may be collected from trees growing in the vicinity. Most tree seeds mature in the fall. Gather them as soon as ripened. A few, such as silver maple and elm, ripen in the spring. Collect these when ripe and plant immediately. Such tree seeds as those of the honey locust, acorns, and the various nuts, may be gathered from the ground.
But the small, thin-coated seeds, like those of maple, box elder, ashes, and elms should preferably be picked from the tree by hand. Collect these after the first seeds have fallen from the tree; since the sterile or infertile seeds are the first to fall. Dry the seeds for a few weeks to remove surplus moisture and prevent molding. Spread acorns and other nuts on a dirt floor and smaller seeds on boards in a dry place. If there are signs of mold spread out thinner. If the kernels shrink, they are drying too rapidly; cover with clean sand or chaff. For permanent storage, place acorn and other nuts in a close covered wooden box mixed with dry chaff or straw. Sink this in the ground in some well drained place to within a few inches of the top. Heap over it a mound of earth to protect it from rains and frost.
When planting time comes, cut open a number of seeds and examine the kernels. If these are plump and firm the seeds are good; if withered, Seed-testing device. (Dick J. Crosby.) the seeds are not fit to plant. A good plan is to make a germination test by sprouting a few seeds between pieces of clean wet blotting paper or in shallow boxes of sand. To test small seeds count a certain number -as one hundred or more-and spread them on a piece of moist blotting paper. Lay this on a plate and cover with another layer of blotting paper. Place over all another plate or a pane of glass. Set in a warm sunny room at a temperature of 68° to 86° F. Keep the blotting paper constantly moist but not wet. Keep a record of the kind and number of the seeds and the date. Look at OUTDOOR PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 257 them every day for two weeks or more, depending upon the kind of seed, until all that will are sprouted.
Count the number which fail to germinate and figure the percentage of good seed. In general the percentages which should germinate in the different kinds of trees are as follows: ash, 35 to 50; basswood, 35 to 50; beach, 70 to 80; box elder, 40 to 60; catalpa, 40 to 75; cherry, 78 to 80; Kentucky coffee tree, 70 to 75; cottonwood, 75 to 95; elm, 50 to 75; hackberry, 70 to 80; hickory, 50 to 75; locust, 50 to 75; maple, 25 to 60; mulberry, 75 to 95; oak, 75 to 95; Osage orange, 60 to 95; poplar, 5 to 10; walnut, 75 to 80.
If the percentage shown by testing falls much below this standard the seeds are poor. Either reject them or sow more thickly than usual. To test large seeds such as nuts, cherry and other pits, use shallow boxes of moist sand under similar conditions.
Prepare soil for the nursery as for the lawn or garden. But the seed bed should not be too much exposed to the sun. It should preferably be sheltered to the east or north by a group of trees or buildings. A heavy dressing of well rotted stable manure plowed under in fall, followed by spring plowing will bring about an ideal condition. A nursery only one square rod in size, with eleven rows 18 inches apart, will produce about fifty seedlings to each row or 550 trees in all. And each row may be devoted to a single species of tree if desired. It will thus be seen that a very small space will grow all the trees that will be required for the grounds of an ordinary dwelling. The best time to plant tree seeds is as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. Exceptions to this rule, already noted, are the seeds of the silver maple and white elm.
These mature in the late spring and should be planted at once. Other exceptions are those of the basswood and yellow poplar. These ripen in autumn and must be planted in the fall. As a rule tree seeds may be planted at the same time the earliest vegetable seeds are planted in the garden. Fresh nuts, acorns of good quality, or cherry and peach pits may be planted 2 or 3 inches apart in rows. Seeds of which the average germination is from 45 to 75 per cent should be spaced from 1½ inch to 1½ inches apart. Those whose germinating powers are very low-as the basswood and yellow poplarshould be sown thickly, three or four seeds deep in the row; the others, in proportion to their power of germination. Cover tree seeds very lightly; the rule is, about twice their average diameter. Care of Seed Beds. - Cultivate seedlings the same as garden crops. Keep down the weeds with a hoe. Stir the surface of the soil to a depth of 1 or 2 inches every few days especially after rains. In time of drouth this forms a surface mulch and conserves soil moisture. If the rains do not keep the soil moist, the seedlings must be watered or irrigated. The best plan is to dig a trench between the rows and fill this with water at night or early morning, so that it will not be drunk up by the sun. The soil must be moistened to a depth of 6 inches.
Merely sprinkling water on the soil does little or no good. To carry the seedlings through the winter, hill them up 4 to 6 inches and cover with a mulch of straw, leaves or moss from 6 inches to 1 foot in depth.
Hold this in place by branches or poles.
Transplanting Trees. - Seedlings of broad leaf trees-i. e., other than evergreen-should be, at the end of the first year, transplanted from the seed bed to some other part of the garden where they will have more room in which to grow. They should not be placed in permanent position in the lawn or road-side until they are two to five years old and have been transplanted once or more.
As a rule small trees can be handled more safely and conveniently than large ones. But with care forest trees 8 or 10 feet high, or even larger, may be transplanted. These are somewhat less liable to injury after planting. If nursery stock is to be used, the less distance the stock has to travel and the shorter time it is on the road, the better. Take care to insure shipment by the most direct and fastest route. Receive the stock and plant it promptly or "heel it in" on arrival. The likelihood to injury is in direct proportion to the amount of exposure to drying winds or sun.
But if seedlings from the home nursery or adjacent forests are available, and if proper precautions are observed, there need be no such danger.
To take up seedlings one year old, drive a spade as deep into the soil as possible 5 or 6 inches to the side ject is not only to take up the main laterals and as much of the tap root as possible, but also to prevent stripping from these larger roots their net-like tracery of fine rootlets. The best results in transplanting very large trees are obtained in winter. A large ball of frozen earth surrounding the roots can then be taken up with the tree. It can thus be moved to its new location without disturbing. the most delicate rootlets. The less injury these sustain, the better the tree will flourish when transplanted. a b (a) (a) The relation of root to top in a nursery tree lifted for shipment; (b) how the roots are cut at digging time. (L. C. Corbett.) of the tree and pry upward until the earth about the roots is thoroughly loosened, then grasp them by the stem close to the ground and gently raise them from the soil.
To take up large trees cut off the lateral roots proportionately further from the trunk, and dig more deeply into the ground so as to pry up a considerable ball of earth surrounding the root system. The ob- Cuttings set in trench. (L. C. Corbett.) To protect nursery stock or other seedlings from injury after being taken up, if there should be any delay in planting them, "heel them in" or plant them in temporary trenches.
Dig for this purpose a trench deep enough to bury the roots and about half the tops. Extend this east and west and have its south bank slope at an angle of about 30° with the surface of the ground. Place in this a layer of trees with their tops leaning south and cover the roots and trunk with fresh, fine earth taken from the north side of the trench.
Add another layer of trees in the trench thus formed and so continue until all the stock is heeled in. The trees may be safely left in this condition until ready for planting. To Plant a Tree. -The best time to plant trees in Northern and temperate climates is as early in the spring as the ground can be worked.
But in warm regions trees planted in fall secure some root growth which gives them an early start in spring.
Avoid sunny and windy weather.
Select, rather, a cool, wet or cloudy day. Deciduous trees may be planted OUTDOOR PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 259 as soon as the ground stops freezing; evergreens, even up to the time the young growth begins to start.
Carry the trees to the site in a barrel half filled with a thin mixture of earth and water. Lift them out only as needed. The slightest exposure of the delicate roots to sun or air will dry and injure them. To secure good results the soil should be well drained. If there is standing water in the soil, postpone planting.
The earth surrounding the trees should be moist, but not wet. If too dry, the best plan is to dig the holes a few days beforehand and fill them with water. Refill them as the water soaks away and persist until the surrounding soil is well moistened. A thorough irrigation of dry soil is to be preferred. Then as soon as the standing water is drained off and the ground is dry enough to crumble freely, the trees may be planted.
Dig holes for trees big enough so that the roots may be spread out flat in about their normal condition. Dig deep enough so that the trunk or stem will be 2 or 3 inches lower in the soil than its former position.
Make the holes for seedlings one year old at least two feet in diameter and 1 foot deep in good soil; but make them 4 feet across in poor soil.
Make holes for older trees larger in proportion. Have the sides perpendicular and the bottom flat. Loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole to the full depth of the spade. Spread 2 or 3 inches of fine top soil, free from sod or other decomposible organic matter over the bottom of the hole. If fertile garden earth can be procured for this purpose, so much the better. At all events the root system of a young tree must not be immediately surrounded by raw subsoil. On top of this layer of earth place the roots of the tree and spread them as evenly as possible over the bottom of the hole. Extend the roots in their natural position.
Now carefully pack about them fine loam soil free from stone and rubbish. Work the soil about each root separately and pack it solidly with the foot. Now fill the hole and compact the earth about the roots to hold them firmly in place by treading.
But do not tamp the soil with a bar or otherwise. This tends to prevent the circulation of air in the soil which is necessary to supply oxygen.
Make the last two or three inches of soil very fine and let it lie perfectly loose. This forms a mulch to conserve the soil moisture. Hill up the soil a few inches above the level of the ground.
The above practice makes it unnecessary to use water at the time of planting when it might be injurious.