TO TEST BEECH SEEDS. 51 



assumed that this protection during the early months 

 of the year has had the effect of anticipating the 

 season one month, so far as its sheltering influence 

 has extended. 



The beech is invariably propagated by its mast. 

 The seeds ripen in October, and those which have 

 no kernels fall first from the tree. If good and bad 

 seeds are gathered together, they may be known, and 

 separated, by putting them into a tub half-filled with 

 water. The good ones will sink to the bottom, and 

 the bad ones float on the top, when they can be 

 poured off with the water. The good seed should be 

 immediately taken out of the tub, and spread out to 

 dry, and when perfectly free from damp, then put up 

 in boxes, or bags, with twice their measurement of 

 sand, which is the best way of disposing of them 

 till they are wanted. The mast becomes ripe in 

 October, and the time for sowing the seed is the end 

 of March or beginning of April. Certain experiments 

 have been made by planting the seeds in the autumn, 

 but the plants are likely to be cut off by the late 

 frosts. 



The seeds should be sown in beds, covered with 

 soil an inch in depth, and lie about an inch from each 

 other, the earth being removed for this purpose from 

 the top, or surface of the bed, and then replaced 

 again ; first being patted with the back of the spade 

 to keep them in their places. 



The young plants do not like the knife, and are 

 apt to become bark-bound when pruned too early, they 

 ought not, therefore, to be cut until they have well 

 established themselves. In the event of plants be- 

 coming bark-bound, when they will refuse to grow, the 



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