PROPAGATION OF TREES AND SHRUBS FROM SEED. 147 



are carried man}' miles from their original station by the birds; 

 and the larger seeds, such as acorns and nuts, are carried away by 

 squirrels, mice, and other animals, and buried for future use as 

 food, and a great many of tliese germinate. I think that for many 

 rows of tine oaks and hickories along the boundary walls of old 

 farms we are indebted to the planting of the squirrels. While we 

 can learn much from nature, we can also improve upon her methods, 

 and supply ourselves with trees in a more economical way. It is 

 true, if nature is left to herself, and men stop destroying, she will 

 soon cover up the ruins made by man, for she sows with a liberal 

 hand ; but there are so m:iny enemies at work, and so many condi- 

 tions to take into consideration, that only a small percentage of 

 the seed that drops to the ground germinates ; possibl}'' not one 

 in a thousand comes to maturity. For this reason we cannot afford 

 to raise our forests as nature shows us. 



The sowing of tree seed where the trees are to remain is poor 

 econom}', and should not be undertaken except where it is impossi- 

 ble to phiut; such sowing should be the exception, not the rule. 

 A much gieater quantity' of seed is required ; it necessitates more 

 labor; more spots have to be replanted, and it is not generally 

 satisfactory' in its results. The soil and situation are so varied 

 that the seed cannot be properly cared for, as it can be in the 

 compact form of frames, seed beds, or nursery rows, where they 

 can be protected from insects or inclement weather. 



The first consideration in seed-sowing is to determine what 3'ou 

 want to plant; the second, to procure your seed as fresh as possi- 

 ble ; the third, to prepare a suitable soil and situation to plant them 

 in ; the fourth, to know what depth to cover them and how long to 

 wait for the seed to come up. It would be impossible for me at 

 this time to go through the whole list of trees and shrubs that 

 would stand the climate of New England ; therefore 1 will confine 

 myself to those that are most useful. Except in a few cases given 

 for the sake of illustration, those named in the following list are all 

 hard}' in the vicinity of Boston, and are representatives of most 

 of the families of trees that will stand our climate : — 



Acer rnbrum, Red Maple, 



" saccharinum^ Sugar '' 



" dasycarpum, White " 



" plat'inoides, Norway " 



u^sculus Hippocastanum, Horse Chestnut, 



