SEEDS 45 



CONIFERS FROM SEED 



Until the Quarantine 37 was enacted, few American nurserymen 

 grew evergreen seedlings. Conditions in Holland and Belgium 

 have always been considered more congenial to the propagation of 

 evergreens, but now excellent stock is being produced in America. 



The following conifers are grown from seed either for sale or to 

 be used as stock upon which to graft the choicer varieties: 

 Abies (see page 180). Picea (see page 206). 



Biota (Oriental Thuya, seepage 217). Pinus (see page 207). 

 Gedrus (see page 188). Pseudolarix (see page 208). 



Ghamsecyparis (see page 190). Pseudotsuga (see page 208). 



Gryptomeria (see page 192). Retinispora (see page 210). 



Juniperus (see page 198). Sciadopitys (see page 215). 



Larix (see page 200). Taxodium (see page 217). 



Libocedrus (see page 200). Taxus (see page )217. 



Thuya (see page 217). 



Excellent notes on the propagation of conifers from seed were 

 contributed to THE FLORISTS' EXCHANGE of Aug. 9 and 16, 1919, 

 by A. H. Hill. These articles follow: 



In the growing of conifer seedlings, generally speaking, the first 

 point of importance in mapping out plans for production on a 

 commercial scale is to locate a reliable and unfailing source of seed. 

 It is easy enough to talk about producing a million little conifer 

 seedlings, but in order to make this possible there must be seed of 

 good quality and quantity. At first thought, it would seem easy 

 to secure the necessary seed when one thinks of the native evergreen 

 forests with their countrywide range. However, the problem is 

 different from that which confronts the farmer when he wants Wheat 

 or other agricultural seeds for the growing of his annual crops. 

 Fortunately the procuring of tree seeds is now rendered less difficult 

 because there are a number of excellent firms in America which 

 specialize in tree seeds. 



It is a source of great satisfaction to know that the Department 

 of Agriculture in Washington has a seed testing laboratory in which 

 germination and purity tests are made and the number of seeds 

 per pound determined of all species collected. In addition to ger- 

 mination tests, the seed testing laboratory is conducting experiments 

 to determine the relative merits of a number of methods of storing 

 conifer seeds. 



Too much importance cannot be placed on the necessity of ob- 

 taining the best and hardiest types, and this requires constant re- 

 search, travel and experiments. While on the subject of seed supply, 

 permit me to explain briefly some of the interesting points concerned 



