Nebraska advertiser., 1860-05-24
From the Prairie Farmer ]
EYergFeens.

/ common QOLQeQ frame, one lOOb HlBu IL
front, two feet at back, five feet wide
and as long as you require; place this in
a position to face about southeast, or from
that to east, and in a location where the
sun viii not shine on it after ten o'clock.
Setit in the surface, then dig Out sixteen
/ inches Of the soil, and replace six inches
in depth with stones Of any kind, broken
rather small for drainage. Sprinkle some
moss or short strawy material over the
drainage, to prevent the soil working
down through it. Prepare soil to fill il
by mixing any kind of free soil with
quarter of sand. Your black vegetable
produced soil l wouldsde particularly
suitable. Let this be thoroughly mixed
and broken finely; no hard lumpy matter
should be left in ii. Fill up this to with
in eight inches in the front and about a
foot from the top at back In filling it,
let it be pressed somewhat firm, but not
so as to consolidate it. You can either
cover with glazed sashes or canvassed
stretched on frames. The glass is to be
preferred because it will exclude rains and
you can whitewash during the summer,
if found necessary, which is not likely if
located as proposed above. The best time
to sow is in the spring, the earlier the
better, say from the middle to the end of
March. Let the surface be smooth; and
gently beating with the back of a spade
will leave a level surface; sow the seeds
thickly, and cover with a soil like the
previous, but containing more sand, say
one third Of sand. and cover the seeds
by sitting it through fine seive over
them. Cover such as Arbor vita (Amer-
ican, and the Thuyas,) Hemlock Spruce,
and similar small seeds, about one-elghth
of an inch, and the White Pine, Nor
way Pine, English Fir, &c., about one
fourth of an inch. Some of the larger,
as the Stone Pine, require half inch of
covering; you can Judge the amount of
covering required by the size of the seed.
Now cover the whole surface over with
moss, or short, soft, refuse hay, not more
than half an inch or so; very slight COW
ering is needed, simply to prevent the
immediate contact of water with the soil
when given through a watering can, or
from being beaten with rains should the
aashes Be takenoF for that object. This
keeps the s,Hfaea o TIE seiI csssn, beth
fer the admission Of cir % tie seed, and
favors the pushing Of ths germs. Do not
water Immediately after sowing pus on
the sashes and keep them close for coup
lie of weeks or so; then if the soil ap
pears to be dry on surface. water slightly
over the covering; after this the sashes
may be raised couple Of inches or so,
alternating the openings at the top and
bottom; leave them SO open day and
night. Of course if you get 100 or
15o Of frost, you will close the sashes
and cover up so as to lee2 the soil from
freezing. The freezing would not per-
haps do much harm, none at all if vege
tation has commenced, but it can do no
good, and the safe side is to avoid it
When young plants appear, carefully and
gradually remove the surface covering,
not hastily removing all at once, but thin
ing it at intervals of few days, so as
not to expose the tender leaves too sud
denly to light After the first of May
elevate the sashes top and bottom to six
inches above the frame, secure them
in that position and leave them
day and night, never removing them ex-
cept to water. The common advice is,
to "sow your seeds in a damp, shady
place." hence, the inference is, that We
nv much water is a necessity; so it IS, In
a certain sense, but the desideratum Is in
keeping them in damp equable atmos-
phere, not keeping a wet soil.
Here is the great point in raising all
evergreen seedlings. Currents of dry
air passing rapidly and freely over them
dries the soil, causing frequent applica-
tions of water, which consoidates and
bakes the surface, and rots the tender
roots. The great point is therefore to
keep the ground moist but not wet, have
your location selected, so that drying
sun will not speedily evaporate the sur
face moisture; and keeping the sashes
constantly over them, while it allows air
enough to keep a gentle and gradual
change, still prevents rapid current of
drying winds. 1t is sometimes advisable
to close one end, (let down one end of
the sashes, if winds, dry and scorching,
blow into it. All evergreens, old and
young, delight in such an atmosphere; go
into the woods where such abound, and
you will find young Hemlocks, Rhododen-
drons. Kalmias, &C., by the thousand,
springing up in shady spots, even on the
bare rocks, crotches of trees, and places
where they hardly find any soil at all
here they have a moist atmosphere with
out wet soil. This is what we have to
initiate. The above is an accurate de-
scription of the mode in which l have rais-
ed Seeding Arbor vitas, Hemlock spruce,
White Pine, SC, in Maryland as well as
here. / had few years ago a three
sashed frame in which raised over twen-
ty thousand Arbor vitas, and Hemlock
spruce, two of the hardest seeds to man
age, on account of their small size, and
the great tenderness Of the young plants.
In winter, bank up well all around,
and lay carefully in over the young
plants a few small punches, over which
a covering of straw or hay, then put on
the sashes close and tight, and keep dry,
they viii keep all winter without seeing
the light if entirely dry-that is the great
point again.
Larches may be planted the next spring
after sowing, but none of the others