ATTENTION TO THE QUALITIES OF SEEDS. 33 



GATHEEING OF SEEDS. 



• 



It is a universal law in nature, that certain qualities of excellence or 

 defect, tend to transmission from parent to offspring. By virtue of 

 this, the various choice breeds of domestic animals have been originated 

 and improved. Our plants cultivated for culinary use, and ornamental 

 planting, have thus been multiplied in variety without number, and in 

 quality so greatly improved upon the native original, as scarcely to be 

 recognized as of the same species. 



May we not from analogy hope an equally good result in the growth 

 and quality of timber, and of the fruits and other products of forest- 

 trees ? Herein, although we have the disadvantage of a slow growth, 

 and a life that often outlives a man's, we have the decided advantage 

 of being able to hold and keep what we get, by the processes of budding 

 and grafting, as we constantly see in our nurseries of ornamental trees, 

 where striking peculiarities, often originating in nature, or from some 

 accidental circumstance, are perpetuated and multiplied without limit. 



But starting with the seed, it is obviously of first importance that it 

 be of the best quality ; — not the first that falls, because as in fruits, it 

 may have ripened prematurely from injuries done by insects; — not 

 from stinted and dwarfish trees, which sometimes bear seed in morbid 

 excess, nor from trees enfeebled by extreme age or other debilitating 

 causes. 



It is laid down as a rule worthy of close observance, that the trees 

 from which the best seed are to be expected should be middle-aged, 

 that grow isolated, or at least a little separate from others, so as to have 

 the full benefit of the air and light — that the tree have a full head, and 

 a perfectly healthy and vigorous condition. 



Wood that is aged and decaying, as well as that which is young and 

 tender, is apt to yield seed that will not grow, or at least that will pro- 

 duce dwarfish and worthless shoots. 



Scrubby and malformed trees, are said, on high authority, to tend to 

 the production of degenerate varieties, from which they will not recover 

 to the primitive type, until they have been cultivated under better con- 

 ditions, and through several generations. 



Seeds should bo gathered when the weather is dry, and such as are 

 heavy, when they fall to the ground, as when beaten or shaken from 

 the trees they sometimes fall before fully ripe. When gathered, they 

 should bespread in thin layers in a dry airy place, at least until the damp- 

 ness is evaporated. The mode of preservation differs greatly with the 

 species, and the tendency to sprout, to rot, to heat, to perish by desic- 

 cation, or to mold, is to be counteracted according to circumstances. 

 In some cases it is important to keep seeds from fluctuations of temper- 

 ature by burying in dry sand, or covering them with litter or straw. In 

 others it is advisable to keep them cool and slightly damp, as by placing 

 them in a cellar. 



The soft maples {Acer clasycarjmm or silver maple, A. riihrum or red 

 maple) mature their fruit in June, and their seeds should be planted at 

 once. The sugar, Norway, sycamore, and some other maples, ripen their 

 seeds in the fall, and they may be sown then, or be kept in a box, mixed 

 with sand, until the following spring. 



Acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, «S:c., should be planted as soon as they 

 fall, to insure success ; but as they are liable to destruction by squirrels 

 and other small animals, it may be often convenient to keep them in 

 boxes covered with sand in a cool place to prevent too much drying, 

 through the winter, and then plant in the spring. 

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