Reviews of Books. 289 



The rarer sorts are generally sown in pots, pans, or boxes of rich moist 

 earth ; and the protection of a pit or frame is given them until they have 

 advanced in growth sufficient to be pricked out in lines in the nursery beds- 

 The more common and hardier kinds are, however, sown at once in 

 nursery or seed beds a yard or four feet wide. The richer and more friable 

 the soil the better ; and the depth at which the drills should be drawn 

 must be regulated by the size of the seeds, say from half an inch to one 

 inch, which in the case of the larger and stronger kinds will be amply 

 sufficient. If these seed beds are sheltered by hedges of Yew, Juniper, 

 Privet, or Beech, so much the better. The seedlings may be lifted in 

 about a year after they are sown, or in the April following, and pricked 

 out in lines six or eight inches apart, leaving a space of about an inch 

 between each seedling plant ; and plants so treated will be found to have 

 made considerably more progress than those left thickly in the seed-beds 

 for two years, an old-fashioned plan still largely practised. As a rule, 

 seedling Conifers should be lifted every year they are in the nursery beds, 

 or until they are planted out in permanent positions in the woods or orna- 

 mental grounds. 



"If seeds are not obtainable, the next best mode of propagating Conifers 

 generally is by cuttings, which should be selected from the side shoots 

 when the sap is in full motion. They should consist of branchlets of last 

 year's growth, say from four to six inches in length, with a heel of the old 

 wood, which causes them to root better. Rctinospoms, Taxus, Thujas, 

 Thi/jopsis, WdUngtonias, Cedrus, Cephalotaxus, Cnjptomeria, Dacrydium 

 Podocarpus, Cypress, Lihocedrus, Torreya, and many other well-known 

 Conifers, are readily multiplied by cuttings like those above described. 

 The usual practice is to insert the cuttings or slips in pots, pans, or boxes 

 of light sandy compost, and place them in a cool and shady frame at the 

 back of a north wall, or in a spot with a northern aspect. Seed is 

 undoubtedly the best method of propagating all Conifers when it is obtain- 

 able ; and cuttings, properly selected, are better, as a rule, than grafted 

 plants, us the latter often throw out lateral leaders instead of terminable 

 or erect ones, and these spoil the symmetry of the plant. When the central 

 leaders of Conifers do not start away freely, the lateral branches, especially 

 those which show a tendency to grow faster than their neighbours, should 

 be shortened in about October ; thus throwing fresh vigour into the leader 

 and preserving the symmetry of the tree. Many propagators who bud roses 

 or graft fruit-trees with every success, flinch at operating on Conifers, and 

 this without any apparent reason, except that the plants are a little diflPerent 

 in appearance ; and this mode of propagation is rarely resorted to except 

 in trade collections. All Conifers, if not too resinous, may be grafted as 

 easily as a plum or pear tree. Scions or grafts are selected from the last 

 summer's growth, and are grafted on stocks of the same or nearly allied 

 species all through the winter months, in a pit or frame, in a genial heat ; 

 the stocks being seedlings or cuttings grown in small pots for the purpose. 

 Terminal grafting is practised in the spring, taking the scions from the tips 

 of the main branches when in a soft growing state. If in the open air tl.e 

 VOL. I. X 



