January 0, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



!) 



readily separate tbe seeds from the cones. The Firs give out 

 their seeds very easily and quickly — much more readily than 

 in the oaso of the Cluster and Stone Pines, which require the 

 gentle application of heat for several weeks, or even mouths, 

 ere their seeds can be separated from the close-scaled cones. 

 The method of extracting the seeds from Cedar and other 

 Couifer cones by splitting is tedious, and often injurious to the 

 seeds. M. DeliJpine of Angers states that the plan he adopts 

 ii much simpler and better. About February the cones are 

 buried at a depth of 2 feet underground in sand ; they remain 

 thus for a month or two, after which the oonos scale easily 

 without force, and the seeds are then picked out and sown 

 immediately, and being swelled they germinate at once. In 

 the ease of all Coniforro seeds undoubtedly afford the best mode 

 of reproduction whenever they can be obtained ; but in the case 

 of rare and new varieties grafting and cuttings have perforce 

 to be resorted to as auxiliary, and in some cases the quicker 

 modes. The cones of Cedars are very resinous when newly 

 gathered, aud ought to be left a year before the seeds are 

 separated, much of the resin having during that period 

 passed away by evaporation. The following experiments on 

 the germination of Conifer seeds were made by Mr. J. Alex- 

 ander, and are recorded in the " Transactions of the Scottish 

 Arboricnltural Society:" — "In the year 1870 twenty cones 

 were gathered from each of ten different trees, whose ages 

 were approximately ascertained by counting the concentric 

 circles in other trees felled beside them. The cones were 

 carefully opened, and all the seeds of the ten different sorts 

 sown in separate beds, when the following was the result : — 

 The seeds of twentv cones from a tree 



800 yeavB old pvoduceij 10 plants. 

 260 „ 13 „ 



200 „ 60 „ 



160 „ 74 „ 



125 „ 106 „ 



100 years old produced 196 plants 

 60 „ 104 „ 



15 „ 46 „ 



10 „ 40 „ 



The same experiment was again tried in 1871 with other 

 trees, when the result was much the same as in 1870. 



In a paper on " Gathering the Cones of Resinous Trees," 

 printed in the Gardener's Chronicle, 1872, 1.5.57, Mr. Ellison 

 maintains, by illustrative examples, that the premature gather- 

 ing of the seed tends to weakness in the plants. Foreign seed, 

 he remarks, from the native forests, is invaluable when imported 

 in fresh-gathered cones secured from the trees at the conclu- 

 sion of the alpine winter, but is not worth having if thpy have 

 been gathered prematurely. Curiously enough, other seeds 

 have been found to be much improved if loft on the plants all 

 winter; and this is notably the case with stock seed. 



The latter end of March if mild, or the beginning of April, 

 is the best time to sow all Conifer seeds ; and it is an excellent 

 plan to place the seeds in a bag and soak the bag in water for 

 a day or two, taking care to dry the seeds in the sun before 

 Bowing. The rarer sorts are generally sown in pots, pans, or 

 boxes of rich 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 com- 

 mon and hardier kinds are, however, sown at once in nursery 

 or seed beds a yard or 4 feet in width. 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 1 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 abont 

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

 pricked out in lines 6 or 8 inches apart, leaving a space of 

 about an inch between each spedling 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 seed beds, 

 or until they are either sold or planted out in permanent posi- 

 tions either in the woods or pleasure grounds. If seeds are not 

 obtainable the next best mode of propagating Conifers gene- 

 rally is by cuttings, which should be selected from the side 

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

 last-year's-growth branchlets, say 4 to 6 inches. in length, with 

 a heel of the old wood, which causes them to root better. 

 Retinospora, Taxus, Thujas, Thujopsis, Wellingtonias, Cedrus, 

 CephalotaxuB, Cryptomeria, Dacrydium, Podocarpus, Cypress, 

 Libocedrus, Torreya, and many other well-known Conifers, are 

 readily multiplied by cuttings like those already described. 

 Tbe 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 with a 

 northern aspect. The more tender species and varieties, how- 

 ever, strike quicker and with more certainty if pricked into 

 pots of small crocks, having about an inch of sandy soil at the 

 top. These, if placed in a genial heat of 75' to 80', will have 

 emitted clusters of white fibrous roots in about a fortnight or 

 three weeks ; but they must be carefully hardened off and 

 potted singly, after which they may be placed in a cold frame 

 and finally planted out in tbe ordinary way. Seed is un- 

 doubtedly the best method of propagating all Conifers when it 

 is obtainable, and cuttings are better, as a rule, than grafted 

 specimens, as the latter often throw out lateral leaders instead 

 of terminal or erect ones, and these spoil the symmetry of tbe 

 specimen. Where the central leaders of Conifers do not start 

 away freely the lateral branches, especially those which grow 

 faster than their neighbours, should be shortened in about 

 October. This throws fresh vigour into the leader and preserves 

 the symmetry of the tree. Many propagators who bud Roses or 

 graft fruit trees with every success flinch at operating on Coni- 

 fers, and this without any appasent reason, except that the 

 plants are a little different in appearance, and this mode of 

 propagation is but rarely resorted to except in trade collections. 

 All Conifers, if not too resinous, may be grafted as easily as a 

 Plum or a Pear. 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 mouths 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 an herbaceous state. The scions may be 1^ to 2 inches 

 in length, and should be inserted on tbe apex of a seedling or 

 rooted cutting of an allied hardier or less valuable species as a 

 stock. This oj eration is best performed in a heated close 

 case, or if in the open beds cloches must be used. If in the 

 open air, however, tbe operation must be deferred until tbe 

 sap commences to move in the spring. Nearly all tbe species 

 and varieties of Pioea and Pinus are best propagated from 

 grafts when seeds are not to be had. The Silver Fir, Abies 

 (Picea) peotinata, is an excellent stock for all the finer varie- 

 ties. Tbe numerous species of Pinna grow well on stocks of 

 tbe different types wliioh they most nearly resemble. For 

 example, those species and varieties which resemble the com- 

 mon Scotch Pine (Pinus sylvestris) grow well on that species 

 as a stock, while P. monticola or P. Lambertiana and their 

 allies do better on P. excelsa or on the Weymouth Pine 

 (P. strobus). Cupressus Lawsoniaua, which is readily propa- 

 gated from seed, and is of clean habit, forms an excellent stock 

 for the dwarf, dense, or variegated form of Lawson's Cypress. 

 Nearly all the Abies or Firs take kindly to the common Spruce 

 as a stock, while Biotas and Thujas, as a rule, succeed well on 

 the Chinese Arbor Vita. In tbe Revue Horticole, 1867, M. Briot 

 states that Libocedrus tetragona succeeds as a scion on Saxe- 

 gotbasa, and its habit, in consequence, becomes changed into a 

 wide-spreading bead instead of forming a narrow cylindrical 

 column. Cbama:cj'paris obtusa pygmma grafted on C. Bour- 

 sieri grows erect, while if worked on Biota or Thuja, or if 

 propagated from cuttings, the plants spread horizontally on 

 the ground. Iseudolarix Ksmpferi is best propagated by 

 grafting scions on its own roots, moderately thick pieces well 

 furnished with fibres giving the best results. This mode might 

 be used with advantage in the case of other rare Conifers which 

 are difficult to propagate by cuttings. Grafting is largely 

 practised in most of the trade collections of Conifeiie, especi- 

 ally for the multiplication of variegated or distinct varieties of 

 any species. Some cultivators object to grafted specimens of 

 Coniferm ; but while acknowledging sdedlings to be preferable 

 as a rule, one cannot gainsay the evidence afforded by the fine 

 grafted specimens worked by Mr. Fowler at Castle Kennedy, 

 and other well-known cultivators of these fine ornamental 

 plants and trees. — F. W. B. (in Qardener). 



THE MILE ASH NURSERIES, DERBY. 

 In horticultural circles tbe name of Cooling is very familiar 

 and favoured. This applies not to tbe Cooling of Derby 

 only, but also to tbe Cooling of Bath. At either town tbe 

 gardener happening to have a temporary sojourn he would 

 not be likely to omit a visit to their nurseries. I was in 

 tbe midland town, and without any reference to the allite- 

 rative jingle of Cooling and Cucumbers I visited tbe es- 

 tablishment, and, like any other " customer," I met with 



