28 ON THE PICEA NOBILIS, AND ITS VALUE FOR 



native habitats. This is not to be wondered at, for the produce of 

 cones from trees grown in this country can hardly yet be 

 considered as the progeny of fully developed acclimatised parents. 

 Seedlings from such stock have in various quarters been observed 

 to become soon diseased, the symptoms of inherent weakness 

 being evidenced by a peculiar brownness spreading and presenting 

 itself on the tips of the leaves, which gradually become wholly 

 withered and die. The specimen assumes a yellow and rusty 

 appearance, as if scorched by lire ; the ends of the young shoots 

 and branches become curved over and drop off, as fingers and 

 toes do in the human form from frost-bite or mortification. No 

 subject of the animal kingdom, subjected from a milder climate 

 to the rigours and snows of an arctic winter, ever presented a 

 more truly miserable and pitiable spectacle than a specimen of the 

 Picea family under such circumstances ; and this naturally leads 

 to the inquiry. Can such a condition in this country arise from 

 defective circulation of the sap in the tree, or from inherent 

 weakness of constitution in the individual, the result of imper- 

 fectly impregnated seed ? To these suggestions — very natural and 

 plausible in themselves — we are inclined to give an unqualified 

 rejection, and would rather endorse and adhere to the views of 

 Dr Berkeley, that the sickliness arises from a constitutional 

 weakness in the seed, caused by its propagation in a climate 

 where conditions are not favourable generally to its perfect 

 development ; and that hence seedlings from such parents evince 

 disease, and whicli, should they again ever have vigour to pro- 

 duce fruit, will be a fruitful source of evil by transmitting the 

 weakness in an aggravated form. Judicious ''crossing" might so 

 far modify this evil, — but this remedy does not yet seem to have 

 been tried. Nothing else, in our opinion, will aid so well and 

 effectually in counteracting the evil, till the pine has become 

 quite acclimatised in this country, and so far advanced and estab- 

 lished that really good seed can be got from fully developed 

 seedling plants reared here, and of mature age. If this weakness 

 be a species of " chlorosis " confined at first to the tips of branches, 

 and gradually spreading till the tree succumbs — it is well known 

 that chlorotic parents in the animal kingdom produce like stock, 

 and so, throughout all nature, we know that " like 'produces like." 

 One word more ere we pass to the progress of the P. nohilis in our 

 country in various sites, &c. Many specimens have been grown 

 from grafts, cuttings, and buds ; and in regard to these, we would 

 only say, that where these modes of propagation are desired to 

 be followed (although we distinctly object to them), they should 

 be done in a careful and scientific manner, and with due regard 

 to physiological peculiarities. Cuttings should be made with a 

 " heel " from the pea-green young shoots in August and Septem- 

 ber ; grafts are often very apt to overgrow the parent stock of 



