58 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



may be gathered in the winter, as the scales do not usually 

 open, to allow the seeds to escape, until the spring. Most of 

 them, when perfectly dry, open spontaneously, and allow the 

 seeds to be shaken out. In others they must be released by 

 exposure to the sun or by force, either by cutting open the cone 

 with a sharp instrument, or by beating, or by crushing in a 

 bark-mill. Two winged seeds are usually found above each 

 scale. 



The best time for sowing the seeds is early in spring, as soon 

 as the frost is out of the ground. If sown in autumn, they are 

 liable to be devoured by mice and squirrels. If a few trees 

 are to be provided for ornament or shade, the seeds may be 

 sown in a prepared seed-bed of pulverized earth, and loosely 

 covered to the depth of one-eighth or at most one-fourth of an 

 inch. The bed should be in a sheltered situation, and the surface 

 should be protected from the action of the wind and sun by 

 loose branches, straw, or leaves. The soil of the seed-bed should 

 be loamy or sandy, and, as in the case of the seed-beds of most 

 other trees, it should be rich ; as the thrift of the future tree 

 depends much upon the vigor of the first shoot. The practice 

 in France is to sow them in somewhat rich bog earth, or a mix- 

 ture of this with sand.* The seeds should be sown in rows for 

 the convenience of keeping the plants free from weeds. They 

 have been observed to come up in from thirty to fifty days, but, 

 in some instances, do not make their appearance until the suc- 

 ceeding spring or even later, j- After they have grown two years 

 in the seed-bed, they may be transplanted to a sheltered and 

 fertile nursery, where they should remain at least one year 

 before being removed to the spot where they are to stand. 



Such is the course to be pursued when it is an object to have 

 fine trees in the shortest time. But when poor, thin, rocky 

 or sandy land is to be clothed with wood, and it is important 

 to save the time and expense of the several transplantations, 

 the seeds may be sown where the trees are intended to remain. 

 They must be sown abundantly, as they are obnoxious to de- 



* Le Bon Jardinier, p. 978. 

 f Loudon's Arboretum, 2132. 



