ABIKTINRJB. 



ABOU-HA> 



16 



ground, in hug* quantities, for the supply of our plant 

 , such a* the Cedar of Lebanon and the Douglas Fir, are 

 procured in much lee* abundance, and are treated with more care, 

 being usually kept in poU until they are finally committed to the 

 earth in the ajtuation they may be subsequently destined to occupy. 



All the specie* are propagated by seeds; they may also be propa- 

 gated both by inarching and by cuttings ; but it i* found that plants 

 so obtained are either very shortlived or stunted, unhealthy, and 

 incapable of becoming vigorous tree*. In Borne of the species, such 

 a* the Balm <>f Uilead and the Silver Fir, the scale* of the cone* readily 

 separate from their axis, so as to render the extraction of .the seed* a 

 simple and easy operation ; but in others, such as the Larch and the 

 Spruce Fir, the scale* will neither separate nor open : in such cases it 

 i* neoaatary to dry the cone* as much a* possible, then to split them 

 by mean* of an instrument passed up their axis, and afterwards to 

 thresh the portion* o separated till the seeds can be sifted out 



Like other reainou* seeds, then are perishable unless sown within 

 a few months after the cone* have been gathered ; they will, however, 

 keep much longer in the cone than if separated ; wherefore, they should 

 always be imported in that state. 



It is usual in the nurseries to sow them in the spring in beds of light 

 soil, in which no recent manure ha* been mixed ; they are buried at 

 various depths, according to the force of the vital energy of the specie*. 

 This has been found by experience, as it is said, to be one inch deep 

 for the Silver Kir ; half an inch for the Spruce, Balm of Qilead, and 

 Cedar of Lebanon ; a quarter of an inch for the Larch ; and less for 

 the American Spruce ; it is, however, probable that these depths are 

 of very little importance. In order to protect the surface of the beds 

 from being dried while the young seeds are sprouting, it is generally 

 overspread with a thin layer of long straw, which is removed as soon 

 as the crop begins generally to appear. During the first season the 

 seedlings remain undisturbed . the only attention they receive being 

 to keep them from weeds. In the following spring the young plants 

 are taken up carefully, and thoir roots, being a little shortened, are 

 imbedded in rows about six inches apart, where they remain for one 

 or two years. After this they are transplanted into quarters, in rows 

 a foot or nine inches apart, the plants being about six inches from 

 each other. Having remained in this situation for a year, they are 

 fit to be transferred to the plantation, or they may stand two years 

 in the nursery quarters, and then be taken up and replaced in a 

 situation of the same kind, if circumstances should render such a 

 proceeding desirable. On no account, however, should they be 

 allowed to remain in the quarters more than two years at a time 

 without being taken out of the ground, because they are apt to form j 

 long and strong shoots, which are destroyed in the process of trans- 

 plantation, so that the life of many must be either materially injured 

 or wholly sacrificed. 



None of the firs should be transplanted at a height exceeding three 

 feet, for the reason last mentioned; and the Larch is the only kind 

 that will remove advantageously even at this si/e. The Spruce and ! 

 its allied species may be removed more successfully when from a foot , 

 and a half to two feet high. To this there is no other exception than | 

 that of plants that have been constantly reared in pots, as the ' 



iimii ; these may be safely removed at any size, if the trans- 

 plantation is carefully attended to, because their roots are uninjured 

 in the operation. It should however be remembered, in finally 

 planting out large firs which have been always kept in pots, that 

 it is absolutely necessary that their roots should lie spread out among 

 the earth a* much ai may be practicable without straining or breaking 

 them ; because, while in pots, they necessarily acquire a spiral direction, 

 which they will not afterwards lose unless it is destroyed at the period 

 of final transplantation ; and, if they do not lose it, they are apt to be 

 blown over by high winds, on account of their roots not having pene- 

 trated into the earth far enough in a horizontal direction to form the 

 requisite stay to support the trunk anil head. 



re great importance is attached to the raising the seeds of rare 

 species of fir, it ha* been found a very beneficial practice to place them 

 between two turfs placed root to root, the one upon the other, and to 

 watch them till the seeds begin to sprout ; they are then to be sown 

 in the usual way, when every seed will usually succeed. 



rees are more impatient of pruning than these. They exude, 

 when wounded, so huge a quantity of their resinous sap a* to become 

 weakened even by a few incisions ; and, if they have suffered many, 

 they are long before they recover from the effect*. So great i 

 symmetry, and so uniformly will their branches form under favourable 

 circumstances, that it will rarely happen that a necessity for the use 

 of the pruning knife can ariae. The great rule to be observed in their 

 management is to allow them ample room for the extension of their 

 branches: if this is attended to, their beauty is not only ensured, but 

 the rate at which they will form their timber will be a full recompense 

 for the space they may occupy. 



AHIKTINK.K. [C'DMFKB*]. 



AROMA, a large species of serpent, which inhabits the fens and 

 moraase* of South America, the Boa eenehria of Linnirus. [BOA.] 



term used in botany and horticulture. In Botany, 

 abortion is employed to express the absence of an organ in relation to 

 an ideal type. Thus the flowers of Rmyhvlariactn and Latniacen 

 have their sepal* and petals arranged with the number five. According 



to a very general law the stamense qual iu mimlwr the petals and 

 sepal*, but in this cane tin y ! ii"t In tin- majority of instance* the 

 rfrinw* are but four : hence it is (aid that one stamen i* aborted or 

 there i* an al 10 stamen. The want of harmony betw> 



part* of the flower generally is thus spoken of. In moon, 



where the ovule* are numerous and the seed* only one, two, or three, 

 the remaining ovule* are aborted. 



In Horticulture, the premature development of the fruit, or any 

 defect in it, is called abortion. 



ABO1" HANNKS (.\umrnitu Il,it, Cuvirr : Tanlalut .Kttinpiciu, 

 Latham), an African bird, which has occasioned much discussion 

 among the learned as to its identity with the ancient Ibis. The 

 attention of Bruce was attracted, during hi* stay in Upper Egypt, by 

 some birds called by the natives Abou-Hannes, whose forms reminded 

 him of the ibis, a* represented on I'./ . :>':.in monuments, and repeated 

 observation confirmed him '.- drntity with the 



ibis of the ancient*. This identity was subsequently corroborated by 

 the distinguished naturalists, Oeoflroy and Savigny, who accompanied 

 the French expedition into Egypt, and procured a number of spec > 

 M. Savigny published his observations in a small work r l.'li 

 Nat et Mythol. de 1'lbi*'), now very scarce, and Baron Cuvier also 

 gave a memoir on ui ibis in the ' Annales du Munc'mn' for 



1804, in which he has clearly proved, from the comparison of a mummy 

 ibis with a stuffed specimen, that the true ibis U not the Tanlaliu Ibu 

 of Linnaeus, that being a much larger bird, but is really a species of 

 curlew. Tin ir to be also a native of regions very remote 



from Egypt. 



Herodotus attributes the veneration of the Egyptians for the ibis, 

 to supposed services rendered them by tin- bird in freeing 

 country from winged serpents. That the ihi.. In >\vever, could not feed 



Tiuc White Ibis (-Vumi:.. 



upon serpents appears nearly certain from anatomical insertion. Tim 

 bill, for example, being long, slender, considerably cnned. bin- 

 the edges, and expanded and roundish at the point. c..uld neither 

 divide nor pierce serpents ; and indicates rather an : . i.-ihhle 



iy and moist grounds. 



< IM the other hand, Uaron Cuvier found, in the mummy of the ibis, 

 remains of the .-kin and .- m-nta, and hence it ha.- 



inferred that the birds might have been serpent-eaters. This int. 

 however, is at variance with the observations made in Kgypt by M. 

 Savigny on a great number of individuals, in the oil lie 



uniformly found land and fresh-water shri. 'Inriir, 



Planorlitr, <{<.>, and these shells were always entire when their 

 inhabitnnta had not been previously digested. 



It does not appear that the ibis breeds in Egypt ; but, on the 

 testimony of the inhabitants, it arrives as soon as (lie waters of the 

 Kile begin to rise, augmenting in numbers as 1 

 diminishing as they subside, and disappearing when the hum 

 terminate*. These birds, on their arrival, repair to the low lands, 

 which are first cnven>d with water; but when the wn 

 deeper and spread wider, the birds betake themsche- to the 

 lands. They afterwards approach the river, when- they establish 

 themselves by the sides of the canals and on the small dykes, with 

 which the greater part of the cultivated grounds are surrounded. 



The bird in question sometimes lives solitary, sometimes in small 

 troops of from eight to ten. Its flight is lofty and powerful. *] 

 utters at interval* hoarse cries. When it. alights on a fresh piece of 

 land, it remains for hours together occupied in tapping the mud with 

 its bill, in search of worms, Ac. It walk 

 ha* not been observed to run, like our curl' 

 Latham), to which it otherwise bears some rc.-embl 



The Egyptians call the bird Abou-Mcnzc 1 , which literally means 



