308 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



cereal plants. In some mountainous countries, in 

 Scotland for example, they bring the seed I'rom the 

 low country and Crom the plains, where the climate 

 is more mild, and consequently the seed more for- 

 ward, a qualify which it always preserves for se- 

 veral generations. We are convinced that the cul- 

 tivator of this mountainous district, if he always 

 used seed from his own crops, would reap later and 

 later harvests, so that at last perhaps they would not 

 come to perlect maturity; a circumstance easily ex- 

 plained by the short duration of summers in the 

 mountains. If, on the other hand, the cultivator 

 of a flat country, the climate of which is mild and 

 the soil dry and hghl, continually made use of his 

 own seed, it would head every year sooner, the 

 stalks would become shorter, and the heads and 

 grains smaller and smaller, and in time there would 

 result but a poor produce. In this last case the 

 cultivator brings his seed with advantage from a 

 country more cold, the soil of which is sood and 

 substantial. Probably these are the circumstances 

 on which rests entirely the diff'erence between 

 the cereal plants of summer, and those of winter, a 

 difference too variable to be easily determined. 



The flax, without doubt, presents us with the 

 most striking example of this phenomenon. We, 

 with great advantage to our crops, bring our seed 

 from Riga, i. e., Irom a colder climate — the sowing 

 of which causes the grain to be slowly formed, and 

 thus leaves more time for developement of the 

 stalk, which is the principal object of its cjjiiiva 

 tion. To judge by analogy, we would be led to 

 believe that the result would be the same, were 

 we to obtain from a colder country and a colder 

 soil the grain of the clover and other plants uspd 

 for forage, in the cultivation of which our object is 

 large stalks and a well developed foliage. Even 

 at the present day we are without experience on 

 this head. 



Generally, all plants which are principally cul- 

 tivated for their grain or fruit, need little or no 

 manure ; while manure is necessary for those 

 plants from which we wish to obtain large stalks 

 and leaves.* 



Fruit trees which shoot vigorously, general- 

 ly bear little or no fruit ; and every circum- 

 stance, which on the other hand prevents the too 

 great growth of wood, favors the formation of 

 fruit. On this observation rests the cultivation of 

 dwarf fruit trees, and espaliers ; also that of the 

 vine, &c. 



Field plants and plants of the kitchen garden 

 (under equal circumstances in other respects) 

 blossom sooner in dry, warm and clear summers, 

 and their stalks as well as leaves are smaller, than 

 in rainy and cloudy summers. 



From these and many other analogous observa- 

 tions, we can deduce a physiological law of the 



* The author's meaning must be taken with refer- 

 ence to the usual rotations of his country, according to 

 which, crops raised for their seeds, are preceded or fol- 

 lowed by grass crops, or others, in which the bulk of 

 the whole plant is of far more importance than the 

 quantity or the perfection of the seeds — and according 

 to his theory, crops of the latter kind would receive so 

 much more benefit from the manure than the former, 

 that economy requires the farmer's limited stock of 

 manure should be given to the one kind, and not to the 

 other.— JSrf. Farm. Keg. 



greatest importance in the cultivation of plants, to 

 wit: Every thing which lavors the disproportion- 

 ed growth of vegetables, opposes or retards their 

 propagation or formation of fruit; and vice versa, 

 the formation of fruit is hastened and forwarded at 

 all times when exterior circumstances prevent the 

 full developement and disproportioned growth of 

 the stalk. 



Now to apply this law to the rearing of trees, I 

 ought first to remark that many of the phenome- 

 na which I have mentioned, are equally apparent 

 in the vecetation of forest trees, although ihey 

 have not been so much noticed. In fact we see the 

 greater part of our forest trees bear seeds sooner, 

 more often, and in greater quantities, with a south 

 exposure, and in a dry and light soil, than with a 

 north exposure, and on a cold and stiff' soil; while 

 under the latter circumstances they acquire great- 

 er dimensions. 



Many trees, the birch for example, vary with re- 

 gard to the time of budding and formation of seed, 

 some being forward, and others late. It is well as- 

 certained that those which bud late, have the hard- 

 est, heaviest, and in every respect the best timber, 

 and increase more in volume within a certain time, 

 than the more forward kind. It is not yet proved that 

 the same phenomena may take place relative to 

 age, i. c, that there may be varieties which blos- 

 som and bear seeds, and the growth of which con- 

 sequently diminishes at different ages. This ap- 

 pears very probable, since we frequently see 

 larches, firs, birches, &c., trees which had their ori- 

 gin in a cold and elevated country, bear seeds in a 

 low, dry and warm country, after having scarcely 

 reached the age of ten or fifteen years, and ten or 

 fifteen feet in height ; and the growth of which af^ 

 terwards becomes sensibly slower. 



From this observation we may conclude that 

 the trees of cold climates produced from seeds ga- 

 thered in dry and level countries will degenerate 

 after many years to dwarf trees, shrubs, bushes, 

 &c. which will scarcely ever be of any value as 

 forest trees. Every attentive cultivator of forest 

 trees will have already noticed similar examples, 

 which will justify this conclusion. 



From all that precedes, I deduce for the rearing 

 of limber trees this general law : It is necessary 

 to procure, as far as possible, the seeds from a cold- 

 er climate, and a colder and stiffer soil, than the 

 climate and soil of the country on which you wish 

 to rear these trees. 



One of the best things for cultivation in the 

 sandy lands of the provinces of Limburg, of An- 

 vers, and of Northern Brabant, is undoubtedly 

 the sylvan pine, [pin sylvestre.'] According to the 

 rule just above, the seed gathered in this dry and 

 barren country should not be used, but ought ra- 

 ther be brought from a colder country, or from 

 some place, the soil of which is colder and stiffer. 

 Since some time back, in France and elsewhere, 

 the preference is generally given to the seeds of 

 the pine from Riga, Norway, Scotland, Hague- 

 nan, &c., and the rule which it is my wish to es- 

 tablish, has thus been followed by us, but without 

 our having been able to justify this preference by 

 reasonable motives. We have been content to re- 

 gard the pines of this country as a particular spe- 

 cies or variety. 



The fir epicea (a northern fir,) and larch, are 

 suitable to be roared in the mountainous lands 

 of Aidennes. If we used the seed which grows 



