The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-06-27
DEClDUOUS TREES.
They Are Much More Easily Grow

SeoQ IMAM the Evergreen.
Deciduous trees are grown much
more easily from the seed than ever
green trees are. / see nothing in the
way of any man raising his own trees
from the seed if they be of the decidu-
GUS species. Whilst it is necessary in
the culture of any plant or crop for a
man to have some knowledge of it's
special wants, nothing could be more
simple and easy than the propagation
of deciduous trees from seed. In my
experience of growing several hun
dreds of thousands of them annually,
I find no more difficulty than in grow
ing so much corn in the drill; in fact,
the operations are pretty much the
same. This is, of course. where the
seedlings are raised thickly in the
nursery row and are to be removed
after the first seasons growth. l
mark the land one way two and half
or three feet apart, just as one would
for drilled corn. The ground should
be so mellow that the marker will be
set down IN SO rs to make a
drill three or *our inches deep. l
use a rather heavy marker, with
sharp, shovel-shaped teeth, and hold
it well down into the ground when
marking, which, if the ground is as
mellow as it should be, gives SUI
ficient furrow for the purpose. Other
ground of a hardn:' texture than mine
might have to be marked first and
then the fuxrows deepened with a light
shovel-plow afterward. The drill fur
row for such large seeds as the walnut,
butternut and hickory ought to be
four or five inches deep, while for the
smaller seeds, as the maple, elm, ash,
box elder and catalpa it need not be
over three or four inches deep. 1t is
imperative that the nuts be frozen
over winter in a moist condition.
Spread them out on the ground
for this purpose and cover them
with straw or hay and enough earth
over this to hold the whole in place.
They will then sprout with the first
warm weather of spring. Sugar ma
pie, box elder, and ash seed should be
treated in the same way, though quite
a portion of them will grow when kept
dry over winter. Some plant in au-
tumn as soon as the seeds are ripe, and
thus secure the conditions above
named without any further care. l
have a;ways spread the seeds on the
ground during the winter and sown in
spring, with invariable good success.
Catalpa seed terminates readily and
should be kept in dry condition
through the winter.
Sow the seeds thickly in the drill as
you would peas or other similar crops.
Drop the nuts along so that they will
almost touch in the drill. Cover such
large seeds about as deeply as you
would potatoes, and the smaller seeds
about as you would corn, packing the
earth down over the seeds after cover
ing. AS rule they come up quickly
and grow rapidly. Some of them will
fairly outstrip the weeds. Give clean
cultivation all through the growing
season. Transplant the next spring
to where they are wanted.
While most deciduous tree seeds
ripen in autumn, there are a few kinds
that ripen in lato spring Or early sum-
mer: Among these are the soft maple
and the elms. These ripen about
june l, and should be sown as soon as
they fall from the trees, as they will
not keep over. The same is true,
believe, as to cottonwoods, although I
have never grown them from the seed.
A large number of these seedlings
can be grown on q small piece of
ground. A piece of well worked soil
. few rods square will furnish enough
for 3 tree claim or other large plant
Ing. A. Boynton, in American
1gfioulturist