Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1895-03-29
is generally lack of knowledge, 9


does not seem to be generally under
stood, although the fact has been
stated over and over again in horti-
cultural journals, that many of these
seeds retain their germinative power
for comparatively short time after
maturity, unless they find the proper
conditions for their preservation. The
acorns of the white oak, Quercus alba,
for instance, often crack and sprout
and show the so-called root before the
fruit falls from the tree. If these
acorns are gathered and allowed to
dry for few weeks before planting,
it is unlikely that any of them will
grow. The same result follows in ma
ture, If they fall on ground which is
hard and dry and continues SO for
some time afterward. but if the
ground is moist, the radicle or incipi-
ent root will soon enter it and be Sc
cured from drying, unless the soil it.
self should be deprived of moisture.
What is true of the white oak is true
of other species, although often in a
much less marked degree. Some OF
the black oak group, for instance,
bear acorns which are slower in ger
minating and appear to preserve their
vitality better under adverse condi-
tions. 1t is destructive to the vegeta-
tive power of all acorns to collect
them in the autumn and keep them
uncovered in an ordinary dry room to
be planted in spring. But any of them
may be preserved for months if sim
ply packed or mixed with moist, but
not wet, sand, soil or moss, and kept
in cool temperature, such as would
prevail under light covering of
leaves or soil in the open air. SINH
lar treatment must be given to hazel
nuts, chestnuts and to beech nuts. In
all cases care should be taken to mix
in plenty of soil, or to place the nuts
in layers so that they do not touch
each other, and any tendency to heat
and consequent moulding should be
guarded against. Butternuts, walnuts
and hickory nuts will not grow read
lily, or at all, if allowed to become
thoroughly dried or cured, although
the kernels may preserve fresh ap-
pearance for years after germinative
power is lost. They will, however,
keep their vitality much better and
longer than acorns under the same
conditions.
AS rule, direct planting in the
open ground as soon as the seed is col
lected is to be preferred, wherever
practicable, for most kinds of nuts
and accrns.
Among objections to this system are
1) the liability of the larger nuts to
destruction by squirrels, of the thin
ner shelled ones by mice and some
other rodents, or by birds; and (2)
the action of frost in heaving the nuts
out of the ground. Where the depre.
dators can be guarded against, the
heaving action of frost may be obvia-
ted by covering of leaves or boards
laid over the seed Some growers aim
to plant after hard freezing weather
has set in, because there is then less
liability to disturbance by animals.
In this system of planting an extra
quantity of seed is required to allow
for failures or mishaps, just as is the
rule with many field crops.
Walnuts, hickories and oaks gener-
ally form long tap roots, and some
persons consider it an advantage to
have the seed planted where the trees
are to remain permanently, as it is
generally found expedient to cut the
tap root when transplanting. When
the seed is planted where the tree is to
remain, experiments have shown that
these undisturbed trees make much
faster growth, in their early years at
least, than those whose main roots
have been cut.