gth February, A. D. iSgg. 



ESSAY 



BY 



JACKSON DAWSON, 

 Of the Arnold Arboretum. 



Tlieiiie: — Propagation of Trees and Shrubs. 



There are many methods of propagation, the most natural one 

 being from seed. Phints, as a rule, grow strong from seed and 

 live longer than those which are grafted, and where it is practi- 

 cal to do so the growth of plants from seed is the best method ; 

 but there are exceptions to all rules and many trees, such as 

 Willows and Poplars, grow as readily from cuttings and produce 

 equally as good plants as those from seed. Species, as a rule, 

 come true from seed, or nearly so, but there are many variations 

 which we wish to perpetuate and these must be increased by 

 other methods, such as grafting, cuttings, layers or inarching. 

 In growing plants from seed it is important that the seed should 

 be selected from good healthy plants, and if grown in a cooler 

 climate than that in which you intend to grow them they are 

 apt to be more hardy than seeds taken fiom a warmer climate to 

 a colder one. If possible, this should be the reverse. We 

 know for a fact that many evergreens from California and 

 Oregon are not hardy here, while the same species from Colo- 

 rado or other high latitudes are perfectly hardy here. 



Picea Engelmanni, Abies concolor, Picea pungens, and the 

 Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), the latter which was 

 imported from England, would not stand our climate, these 

 being grown from seed collected in California and Oregon, and 

 not until Dr. Parry sent seeds from Colorado did we have hardy 

 forms of these trees in New England. At the present day all 



