n8 TREES AND SHRUBS 



THE PROPAGATION OF CONIFERS 



Many mistakes have been made in propagating 

 the Coniferae, and to make matters still worse, the 

 old erroneous doctrines are still preached and 

 practised. The unpopularity of certain species of 

 Abies, Picea, and Pinus is due to a great extent 

 to the practice of grafting them on unsuitable stocks. 

 For instance, the species of Abies are worked on 

 A. pectinaici) of Picea on P. exce/sa, and of Pinus 

 on P. sylvestris or P. Laricio. The varieties of P. 

 excelsa are worked on that species. P. exce/sa is not 

 used for the other forms of spruce Firs to any great 

 extent. In addition to this, such methods and stocks 

 are still spoken of as the correct ones to use ; though, 

 to take one genus alone, what kind of a specimen 

 Abies bracteata, A. nobilis, or A. concolor would make 

 in twenty years' time if worked on A. peclinata we 

 should not like to say certainly very poor, even if 

 they lived, which is doubtful. These are nearly 

 always raised from imported seeds. It may be laid 

 down as a law that species of Coniferae should never 

 be grafted but raised from seed, which can always be 

 obtained through English firms. With varietal forms 

 of Coniferae that will not come true from seed or 

 that cannot be struck as cuttings, grafting must 

 be resorted to, and if young plants of the type 

 species are used as stocks the results will be fairly 

 satisfactory. In the case of some of the more 

 highly variegated Cupressus, &c., grafting is really 

 the best method of propagation, as these forms are 



