206 OS RAISING PLANfS Of THE PlNUS TRIBE FROM SfiED. 



base, or stalk end, and afterwards to drive a round piece of hard wood 

 through the Iiole, whicli will split the cone ; then with a chisel to com- 

 mence taking off the scales in layers, beginning at the base of the cone. 

 The seeds may then be removed without injury ; this, of course, only 

 applies to the more rare ones, all the others are easily opened by drying, 

 and particularly the Silver, Spruce, and Balm of Gilead Firs ; the 

 Cedar, Weymouth, Larch, and Scotch Pine, also part with their seeds 

 freely. 



'' The next operation is that of sowing the seeds, which is best done 

 in the following manner : — If the kinds are new or rare, they should 

 be sown in pans filled with dry, sandy loam, and without any mixture 

 of either peat, leaf-mould, or rotten dung, all of whicli are injurious, 

 and cause tlie young plants to damp off when they first come up, more 

 especially if it should be damp weather at the time they appear above 

 ground. If the loam is a little stiff, a small portion of sand may be 

 used ; but this must be avoided as nmch as possible, because the more 

 sand there is in the soil the weaker the plants come up. If they are in 

 a doubtful condition, sow the seeds in pans filled witli very dry loam, 

 and place them in some dry situation, out of the reach of damp, they 

 will then not be injured ; whereas, if they were not placed in dry soil, 

 they would be sure to perish, or if sown in damp soil the like destruc- 

 tion would attend them. When spring advances, place the pans in 

 gentle, but by no means in a damp heat, taking care, however, to remove 

 them to a much cooler place before the young plants are fairly above 

 ground, and afterwards iiarden them off by degrees, giving them but 

 little water at first ; for much depends upon the use made of water at 

 this period, and the treatment given to them when in this state (that is, 

 when the young plant has exhausted the nourishment supplied by the 

 seed, and has to seek subsistence from its own roots), after which there 

 is little danger of their damping off, except they are over-watered. 

 Wiien the plants are fairly up, and a little hardeneil, they may be potted 

 off singly into small pots, filled with a mixture of loam and sandy peat ; 

 if the loam is rather poor or stiff, a little leaf mould may be added, for 

 the bad effects of the two latter substances seem only to occur during 

 the time the young plant receives its support from the seed. AVhen 

 potted, they should be placed in a close pit or frame for a few days, 

 until they recover the effects of the shift, and afterwards air must be 

 freely admitted, but \^ater given rather sparingly at first. They will 

 require little trouble afterwards, but probably may want shifting into 

 larger pots in tlie autumn (particularly the strong-growing kinds) as it 

 is injurious to their future growth to allow their roots to get pot-bound 

 when young. The more rare or tender kinds should not be planted out 

 before the third season, but the conuuoner ones may be planted out 

 after the first year. 



" All those kinds with hard-shelled seeds, and even the Deodar and 

 Cedar of Lebanon, may be sown in the open border with great advan- 

 tage in the following manner : select a good fresh loamy soil which is 

 not stiff, but rather sandy, and about tiie end of March disc and break 

 the surface rather finely ; then mai'k ihe ground out into beds about 

 four feet wide, leaving an alley of a foot wide between each bed ; and 

 on some fine dry day sow the seeds broadcast rather thickly, covering 



