DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



191 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Raising Magnolias from Seed — Dear Sir: 

 In the May number of the Horticulturist, you gave 

 us a very interesting article on the Chinese Magno- 

 lia, and in speaking of one in your garden, of which 

 you gave us a portrait, you remark that it last year 

 gave you quite a crop of fine large seeds, from 

 which you hope to raise many plants. Now this is 

 to inquire whether the various kinds of Magnolias, 

 and particularity the American sorts, can be success- 

 fully cultivated from the seed, and, if so, what is 

 the process ? By giving this information through 

 the columns of the Horticulturist, I have no doubt 

 you will gratify many of your readers, who have 

 been as unfortunate as myself. 



I have sown the seed of several of the American 

 sorts, particularly M. acuminata and M. macro- 

 phylla, in both the fall and spring, and they have 

 invariably failed, and I have never yet been able to 

 raise a single tree from the seed ; and my attempts 

 wiih the Mountain Ash {Sorbus aucuparia,) by 

 seed has been equally unsuccessful, never suc- 

 ceeding in a single instance. 



Any information that will enable us to cultivate 

 those beautiful trees successfully from the seed, 

 will, I dare say, be grati lying to many of your read- 

 ers, and will be peculiarly so to your very humble 

 servant. A Subscriber. Burlington, Iowa, Aug. 

 bth, 1847. 



[Remarks. — All the Magnolias which produce 

 seeds may be raised in this way, and we have this 

 year succeeded in growing quite a nimber of young 

 plants of the Chinese species alluded to. But 

 the young seedlings are very tender and impatient 

 of sun and w'lnA uhen just vegetating, and hence, 

 though occasionally seedlings may be raised suc- 

 cessfully in the open ground, yet it is so uncertain 

 that experienced cultivators consider it a waste of 

 the seeds to sow them there. 



A certain mode of raising Magnolias of all kinds 

 from the seeds, is as follows : Gather the seeds as 

 soon as ripe. About the middle of October make 

 some boxes of rough boards, about six inches deep, 

 two feet wide, and three feet long. Fill these box- 

 es to within one inch of the top with good rich sandy 

 loam, and if a third leaf-mould (the rich soil in old 

 woods) is added to it it, is still better. Then plant 

 the seeds about two inches apart, and cover them 

 with an inch of soil — this will fill the box to a level 

 with its top, and when the whole is gently pressed 

 down, watered and allowed to settle, it will be de- 

 pressed from one to two inches. This will allow 

 space for the necessary supply of water. 



The winter quarters of these boxes of seeds may 

 be a cellar, if there is no danger of rats. But where 

 many seedlings are grown in this way, it is usual 

 to place a rough board frame, like a common hot- 

 bed frame, in any sheltered position. Set the box- 

 es in this, sinking them in the soil to a level with 

 their tops. At the approach of winter cover them 

 six inches deep with very dry leaves that fall from 

 the trees, and cover the frame with the lights, or, 

 if glass is not at hand, boards will do instead. The 



latter should be removed once or twice in winter in 

 mild rainy weather for a day or two. 



When the s[)ring opens, first uncover the frames, 

 and afterwards remove the leaves. The boxes 

 should now be regularly watered, and about the 

 middle of May the seeds will begin to vegetate. 

 As soon as this is perceived, take them out of the 

 frame and place them in a situation, airy, but also 

 shaded from all but the morning and evening sun. 

 The shade should be that on the north side of a 

 fence or building, and not that of trees. Here the 

 boxes must remain all summer, being regularly wa- 

 tered every evening. In this way a fine crop of 

 seedlings may be grown, with scarcely the failure 

 of a single good seed. 



In autumn, place the boxes in the cold frame, and 

 treat them precisely as before. The next spring 

 the young seedlings, which will be found to have 

 made fine large roots, may be transplanted into the 

 nursery rows. The soil should be deep, and if rather 

 damp and full of vegetable matter, the growth will 

 be the more luxuriant. 



If " A Subscriber " will pour boiling water upon 

 the berries of the Mountain Ash, let it stand for a 

 couple of hours, and then rub out the seeds before 

 planting them, he will be more successful. All the 

 seeds planted (as they should be) in autumn, are 

 much more certain to vegetate in the spring, if the 

 surface of the ground over the drills or beds is cov- 

 ered a couple of inches deep with some light sub- 

 stance, such as old tan, black bog earth, or leaves. 

 This both keeps the soil about the seeds in an uni- 

 formstate of moisture, and prevents the surface from 

 becoming so hard by the action of the spring rains 

 and winds that the germinating plants cannot burst 

 through it. — Ed.] 



Mulching. — I have this season found by experi- 

 ence the value of mulching transplanted trees, as 

 recommended in the Fruits and Fruit Trees of 

 America. I planted about 150 trees in an orchard 

 in very good but rather dry soil. They were all 

 planted with equal care, but about one-third of them 

 I mulched — i. e. covered the surface of the ground 

 after planting with 6 inches of litter. They all 

 started alike. Among those not mulched, I have 

 lost 15, while there has not been a single death 

 among those mulched. Probably they would all 

 have grown had the month of July been cool and 

 moist; but when the hot weather came, many of 

 those not mulched dried ort". I consider, from ob- 

 servation this season, that mulching is preferable to 

 watering. Yours. B. Hudson, N. Y., Aug. 5th, 

 1847. 



The Chinese Pear-tree, (Pyrus sinensis.) — 

 This, which in point of foliage we consider the most 

 ornamental of all fruit trees, appears to be rare 

 and little known in this country. It is perfectly 

 hardy, and well deserves a place in all ornamental 

 plantations, though its fruit is of no value. Its 

 leaves are two or three times the size of those of 

 the common pear tree, broader, glossy on the up- 



