TIMBER CULTURE. 523 



deep, they will have moisture enough until they have thrown down their roots into the 

 soil, if buried with only an inch of earth. The hickory and walnut are to be treated similarly 

 except that somewhat more care is necessary to prevent drying, as the thick shells serve as 

 partial protection. But after the exterior covering of either chestnuts or walnuts have dried 

 so long that they become hard and impervious to moisture from without, it will be useless to 

 plant them. 



The maples are of two classes those which ripen their seed the first of summer, like the 

 red and the silver maples, and those which do not ripen till October, as the black and the 

 sugar maple. The former will supply well-matured seeds three weeks after the leaves have 

 expanded, and as they soon lose the power of germinating, they should be planted at once in 

 finely pulverized soil, not over an inch deep if moist enough, half an inch would be better 

 and if hot, dry weather follows, they should be partially shaded from the sun s rays. But 

 seeds of the sugar maple, maturing in October, may be kept in damp sand in a cool place and 

 planted early in spring; or if properly protected, as above mentioned for nuts, they may be 

 planted in autumn. 



All the elms ripen seeds quite early in the season, and if sown shallow at once in fine 

 mellow soil, they will make a good growth, and be a foot high in autumn. White ash seeds, 

 which mature early in October, may be treated like the seeds of the sugar maple. The same 

 treatment may be given to the tulip tree and the basswood. The catalpa ripens plenty of 

 seeds in its long pods, and these are easily kept, and planted the next spring; they grow 

 freely. The birches have small seeds ripening in summer or autumn, and when sown the 

 following spring require good care, as the fine earth must be thinly sifted over them, and 

 kept sufficiently moist to insure germination; and the young plants may need the protection 

 of shade under a hot sun. It may be cheapest for the inexperienced to buy the young plants 

 by the thousand of nurserymen. 



Seeds of the common locust and the honey-locust will keep several years if quite dry. 

 The common locust seeds require scalding to make them germinate. Put a quantity in a pint 

 or quart basin; pour on boiling water and let it cool. In a few hours a part will be found 

 swollen to double size. Pick these out and plant them at once an inch deep and they will 

 grow. Repeat the process successively on the remainder until all are swollen and planted. 

 Without this scalding process, the seeds will remain for years unchanged in the soil. The 

 honey-locust does not require this treatment. The poplars and willows grow freely from 

 cuttings, and are rarely raised from seed. 



Conifers require more skillful management than deciduous trees, and it is commonly 

 cheaper to buy the young trees, or seedlings, of nurserymen. A few suggestions are, how 

 ever, offered to those who would attempt the experiment. The larch is perhaps the easiest 

 to raise, bat the seeds should be fresh and good, as they will not keep a year. The cones of 

 the white pine drop their seeds about the first of October, and they must be gathered in time 

 to secure them. The Norway spruce (now so largely grown of bearing size) matures its cones 

 late in November, and they must be saved before the seeds fall out. The same may be said 

 of the native black spruce. The seeds of conifers often require a month to germinate and 

 come up. They must have the soil finely and thinly sifted over them, and the young plants 

 always require more or less shading. 



The berries of the red cedar are to be gathered late in autumn, mixed with an equal 

 bulk of moist sand, and planted at once, or early the next spring. Most of them will grow 

 the second year. We have always found them to succeed best by washing the pulp from the 

 berries, although it is usually not regarded necessary by nurserymen. 



The seeds of most evergreens being quite small, a great number of plants may be raised 

 from a small quantity, if the seeds are good and fresh, and most of them grow. A pound 

 of seed of the white pine contains 20,000; of the Scotch pine, 69,000; of the Norway spruce, 



