186 THE CORSICAN PINE. 
ferred from the nursery borders, at which stage most trees being 
fresh and tender are usually devoured, this pine is quite free from 
their attacks, a fact which numerous experiments made here fully 
corroborate. This tree is also remarkably free from the ravages of 
the various insects which have, more especially of late years, com- 
mitted such havoc in pine woods throughout various parts of the 
country. I have, however, on one occasion found a diseased tree of 
the Corsican pine attacked by the pine beetle (ylurgus puniperda). 
The nursery management of Pinus laricio requires a great 
amount of care, more especially in the way of frequent transplant- 
ing, so that strong, well-rooted plants may be produced, neglect of 
this generally proving injurious if not fatal to the tree when 
planted out permanently. Usually young plants of this pine are, 
like P. pinaster, found to have but a long taproot and two or 
three shorter ones, and to be almost destitute of the numerous 
small rootlets so necessary for the successful transplanting of the 
tree. In the formation of a new plantation in which this pine is 
to be used, small bushy plants should always be chosen in prefer- 
ence to those of larger growth, as these will ultimately succeed 
better than such as have their taproot destroyed, which is usually 
the case when transplanted of a large size. 
The Corsican pine is usually propagated from seed, which should 
be sown, according to the season, in March or April, on well pul- 
verised soil of a sandy texture formed into beds about 4 feet wide. 
The seeds should be sown thinly but evenly over the surface, so as 
to allow plenty of room for the young plants developing their side 
branches. When the plants in the seed-bed begin to touch each 
other, they should at once be planted out in lines and in good soil 
of rather a light nature, previously dug and well broken up. The 
lines should be about 14 inches apart, and the young plants at a 
distance of 8 or 9 inches from each other, which will not only 
insure plenty of room for full development, but also sufficient 
accommodation for weeding and keeping the young plants in a 
clean, healthy condition. In planting the seedlings great care should 
be taken to spread out the rootlets to their full extent, and in a 
circle round the stem of the plants—a matter of much importance 
for their future welfare. This is, however, so frequently neglected 
in the nursery management of not only this but most other trees, 
that the above warning, combined with the following instructions 
for the transplanting of this pine, may be useful to those who adopt 
the ordinary hap-hazard method of planting young nursery stock :— 
