238 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



the hand. By rubbing they are then made clear of the wool. 

 Mr. Cobbett, who raised many plants from seed, soaked it in 

 lukewarm water for forty-eight hours. He then mixed it with 

 finely sifted earth, ten gallons of earth to one of seed ; put the 

 mixture upon the smooth, bare ground; "turned and remixed 

 the heap every day for four or five days, keeping it covered 

 with a mat whenever the turning and mixing were not going 

 on ; and as soon as a root began to appear here and there, sow- 

 ed the seeds upon a bed of sifted earth, mixed with the sifted 

 mould, just as they came out of the heap." No other covering 

 was given ; they were carefully watered and kept shaded, and in 

 about a week germinated and showed their seed-leaves. This 

 was in April. The plants were gradually inured to the sun- 

 shine, and in October their wood was ripe. In the succeeding 

 summer they were fit to transplant into nursery lines. * 



General H. A. S. Dearborn, so well known for the skill and 

 success with which he has cultivated forest trees, gives, in the 

 New England Farmer, Vol. V, p. 193, valuable directions for 

 raising buttonwoods. He says the balls should not be gathered 

 before the fall of the leaves, or, still better, not till March. He 

 sowed the seeds in the spring, broad-cast, very thick, in a rich 

 seed-bed of fine, light, carefully prepared mould. They were 

 raked in and covered, and the ground was left smooth and 

 level. When the plants first appear, they are very tender, and 

 must therefore be screened from the heat of the sun for several 

 months, by mats or by brush-wood thrown over poles resting 

 on crotched stakes, two or three feet from the ground. He has 

 usually transplanted them, when a year old, into a nursery, 

 placing them a foot apart, in rows three feet asunder. "The 

 seed-bed should be kept clear of weeds, and the ground in the 

 nursery between the rows, dug over every spring, and often 

 hoed and raked." When three or four years old, the plants 

 may be removed, and set wherever they are wanted for shade, 

 ornament, or fuel. 



* Woodlands, as quoted by Loudon. 



