PROPAGATION OF CONE-BEARING EVERGREEN TREES 



207 



best tying material that can be used. As 

 soon as the phmts are grafted, they must be 

 placed near the glass of a propagating house, 

 in an inclined position, so as to impede the 

 circulation of the sap to the top of the stock, 

 and to facilitate the adhesion of the graft. 

 The management must be the same as that 

 given to grafted plants in general ; but care 

 should be taken not to allow them to become too 

 moist. They must also be frequently cleaned, 

 and the stock must not be cut down before the 

 graft has grown somewhat strong and vigorous. 



The best time for taking cuttings is towards 

 the latter part of the summer, and it is neces- 

 sary to select them from the young shoots 

 that have grown the same year : they should 

 be cut close to the old wood. The cuttings 

 should be planted in pots of silver sand, and 

 kept in a warm green-house or propagating 

 house, and covered with a bell glass or a 

 hand light. Those persons who have not the 

 convenience of a house in which to place cut- 

 tings, may avail themselves of the mode of 

 propagating called layering. For this pur- 

 pose, when the yoimg shoots have become 

 sufficiently strong, it will be necessary to 

 erect an artificial stage around the plant which 

 it is desired to propagate. On this stage, pots 

 of suitable soil nmst be fastened, by being 

 tied to the boards, and in the position best 

 adapted for the operation. The branches 

 must then be gently bent over the pot, and 

 properly secured in their place ; the young 

 shoots inserted in tlie soil of the pot, and 

 secured with a small peg. This is the most 

 successful mode of propagating such kinds as 

 Pinus longifolius, P. palustris, and P. Hart- 

 wegii, which have a spongy bark. 



Grafting upon roots has been found very 

 successful with the different species of Thuja 

 and Juniperus. This mode is performed as 

 follows : — In February or jMarch, the small 

 roots of Juniperus virginiana, and Thuja ori- 

 entalis or occidentalis, are taken off: they 

 must not be stronger than the scion or shoot, 

 which should be selected from last year's 

 wood, near the summit of the plant. When 

 the grafts are made, the roots must be potted 

 in small pots and placed on a shelf in the 

 green-house, being kept close, and shaded 

 until established. 



As regards the most suitable stocks for 

 Coniferse, it may be observed that they are 

 most successfully raised from seed. It is uot 



advisable to take young plants from a collec- 

 tion for this purpose ; because they do not 

 accommodate themselves to pot culture so 

 well as plants obtained from seeds. Good 

 healthy seeds of the species named at the 

 beginning of this article, should be procured 

 for the purpose of rai-ing plants to be kept as 

 stocks. Such plants will be found most suita- 

 ble for those engaged in the propagation of 

 Coniferfe. The seeds should be sown in 

 February, in wooden boxes of convenient 

 size, and three or four inches in depth. The 

 soil most suitable for sowing them in is sandy 

 peat, mixed with a fourth part of loam. The 

 boxes should be well drained, and, after the 

 seeds are sown, placed in a temperate green- 

 house. As soon as the seedlings appear, the 

 boxes must be removed near the glass, in 

 order to give the plants plenty of light. Be- 

 fore the first leaves appear, the young plants 

 should be taken out and potted in two-inch 

 pots, using a sandy peat soil, but no loam. 

 This treatment is proferable to allowing the 

 young plants to grow large in the box, and 

 then shifting them into pots ; as, when they 

 are taken out of the box very young, with 

 only one or two roots, they ai'e less liable to 

 be injured, and they soon adapt themselves to 

 their new situation. When the seedlings have 

 been potted, they should be removed to a cool 

 frame, and placed on a bed of ashes or gravel, 

 but quite near the glass. They will require 

 to be shaded during bright sunny weather, 

 and care must be taken never to allow them 

 to become either too dry or too wet. The 

 frame may be kept rather close till the end 

 of May, or the beginning of June, according 

 to the state of the weather, when the lights 

 may be taken off. As soon as very rainy and 

 frosty weather sets in, the lights must be put 

 on again, to remain on all the winter. Very 

 little shelter will be necessary except during 

 severe frosts. Air must be admitted to the 

 plants on all favorable occasions. In spring, 

 they will require to be shifted into four-inch 

 pots, and if properly attended to, they will be 

 ready to graft upon by the autumn. 



Seeds of Taxus, Thuja, and Juniperus vir- 

 giniana, may be sown in the open ground, and 

 pricked into pots three or four months before 

 they are wanted to Avork on. They may be 

 removed to a shelf in a temperate moist stove, 

 to remain for some time, the better to estab- 

 lish them in the pots. 



