488 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



until spring ; and those which usually retain their own cover- 

 ing until spring, as the Catalpa, the Hemlock, the various 

 Pines, the Locust, the Tulip- tree, &c., may be sown at the 

 earliest opening of spring directly from the tree, or may be col- 

 lected in the fall or winter, and kept in their pods or cones till 

 wanted. 



Some seeds of trees and shrubs are difficult to sprout, as the 

 Locust and some others, which, when not sown until spring, are 

 benefited by being first scalded by pouring hot water upon 

 them while stirred, and suffering them to cool. Others, as the 

 seeds of the Rose and the various berry-bearing Thorns, require 

 to be sown or buried in their first season, but do not vegetate 

 until the second year. 



Evergreens are apt to be extremely feeble when they first 

 spring from seed, and require special care. All the seedlings, 

 whether of evergreens or deciduous trees, should be transplanted 

 carefully at one or two years old, and subsequently every third 

 or fourth year, having their roots shortened at each removal, to 

 prepare them for final setting out. See page 492. 



FORMING AND PRUNING. 



The proper formation and pruning of the head of young 

 shade and ornamental trees is of great importance. We do not 

 look for our return in fruit, but in beauty from these, and if the 

 main limbs are permitted to start at acute angles, so that as 

 they enlarge they will touch and rub, the tree, when of full size, 

 or before, will become diseased, and liable to be split in pieces 

 by a single gust of wind. It may be well to bolt them strong- 

 ly when they begin to crack, as is sometimes done to save fine 

 shade-trees in our city streets, but it is much better to prevent 

 the necessity for such a course. You may do what you will 

 with them while they are young. Never, therefore, let the 

 principal branches spring as the fingers spring from the palm, 

 but compel them to put forth rather as the arms stand out 

 from the shoulders when the hands are raised above the head. 



Except in the case of the grape-vine, it is not common to at- 

 tempt to combine profit with ornament in tree-planting, yet 

 certainly many varieties of fruit-trees are highly ornamental, 



