HOW TO PLANT. 97 



as they ripen, and indeed they are already 

 young plants, as may be seen by breaking 

 them open ; hence the difficulty of preserving 

 and transporting them. Once thoroughly dry 

 them, and their vitality is lost. 



" The elms, with a single exception, are also 

 early summer fruits, ripening in some cases 

 before the expansion of the leaves. This, how- 

 ever, is an advantage to the seed-gatherers, 

 who can strip them from the limbs just as the 

 winged seeds begin to turn brown and are 

 ready to fall. The seeds of the elms are less 

 impatient than the maples, and retain their vi- 

 tality sufficiently to admit of transportation to 

 a distance, but it is better to commit them to 

 the soil as soon as possible. 



"Poplars and willows also blossom in the 

 early spring, and ripen their seeds before the 

 summer heats. Their seeds are produced in 

 elongated catkins. They must be harvested 

 from the trees. This is done just as the catkin 

 begins to burst open in ripening. The minute 

 seeds should be sown at once on a finely-pre- 

 pared seed-bed and very lightly covered by 



sifting fine soil over them, and then firming the 

 9 



