THE VARIOUS NEWER CONIFER JE. 85 



150 years old produced 74 plants. 

 125 „ „ 10G „ 



100 „ „ 196 „ 



50 „ „ 104 „ 



15 „ „ 46 „ 



10 „ „ 40 „ 



The same experiment was tried in 1871 with other trees, when 

 the result was much as in 1870. It would thus appear that the 

 best trees to take cones off for seed are those averaging about 100 

 years. Above 100 or 120 years the seed becomes less fruitful; at 

 auy rate, the fact remains that the cones of trees, when they reach 

 their prime, are more fruitful than those of old ones. April is the 

 best season for sowing all kinds of conifers, should the weather 

 prove favourable, in order that the seeds may sprout the earlier. It 

 is a good plan to place them in a bag, and then have the bag steeped 

 in water for two or three days. After this let the seeds be taken 

 out and dried gently in the sun before being sown. The soil should 

 be soft and rich, mellowed by the preceding winter's frost, and 

 carefully dried, and raked as fine as possible. The rarer sorts are 

 generally sown in pots, but the more common in beds 3J feet wide. 

 The seeds of the Scotch pine require a covering | inch in depth; those 

 of the Weymouth pine f inch ; and those of the stone pine, 1 J inch. 

 The cedars are generally sown in broad pots or boxes filled with light 

 sandy loam and covered | inch. In the case of the larch the seeds 

 require \ inch, while, again, those of the spruce fir require about an 

 inch. Those of the silver fir and balm of Gilead from ^ to f inch. 

 The seeds of the black and white American spruces are smaller than 

 those of any of the preceding species, and therefore require a light 

 covering. It is sufficient to cover these seeds and no more. Strict 

 attention is required, both as to the quality of the soil and the 

 thickness of the covering ; for although the plants from these seeds 

 prove extremely hardy when grown up, yet they are very tender 

 in infancy. It is a common practice to leave the plants in these 

 beds for two years, but this is not to be recommended. They should, 

 if possible, be lifted in the end of the first year in March or April, 

 according to the weather, and then bedded out in lines six inches 

 apart with 30 or 40 plants to the lineal foot. At the end of the 

 second year they should be again lifted, and this time lined in rows 

 9 inches apart, and about 18 or 20 plants to the lineal yard. In 

 the course of the third year these plants are fit for being trans- 



