THE PINE AND FIR FAMILY. 265 



Pine P. excelsa, P. laricio, P. austriaca, and P. sylves- 



tris, according to the type of the scion. 



Fir Abies, Picea, or Thuja, according to the type. 



Thuja Thuja canadensis or T. occidentalis. 



Biota B. orientalis or T. sinensis. 



Taxodium .....' T. distichum. 



The Araucarias form a group of stately evergreen Conifers, 

 natives of Chili, Norfolk Island, and Brazil. A. imbricata, the 

 " Chilian Pine " or " Monkey Puzzle," is hardy, and a noble 

 ornament to our gardens. All the species are readily raised 

 from imported seeds, which should be sown in well-drained 

 pots of rich fibrous loam, and placed in a pit or moderately 

 warm plant-house to germinate. Although generally considered 

 dioecious, A. imbricata not unfrequently bears male catkins and 

 female cones on the same tree, or even on the same branch. 

 This has been observed at Bicton, and also in the Earl of 

 Shannon's Pinetum at Castle Martyr, near Cork, in the spring 

 of 1867. Like other Conifers, Araucarias may be propagated 

 either by cuttings or by grafting. A. imbricata, A. excelsa, and 

 A. Cunninghamii may be propagated from seeds for stocks. 

 In order to obtain cuttings, the leader and principal side 

 branches should be headed in, the portions removed being 

 inserted in sandy well-drained compost, on a genial bottom- 

 heat, in a pit or frame where plenty of air is admitted to coun- 

 teract damp. Removing the leader and side shoots causes 

 young growth to appear in the upper axils of the decapitated 

 trees, and these can be used either for cuttings or scions. M. 

 Baltet recommends side - grafting with an oblique cleft, or 

 veneering (in February and August, under glass) close to the 

 ground, as the best methods ; but neither grafted nor cutting 

 plants are so satisfactory as seedlings that is, supposing seeds 

 obtainable. A. imbricata varies very much in habit when 

 raised from seed, some forms having a dense habit of growth, 

 the branches being produced in close whorls and furnished 

 with lateral branchlets, while other forms are lax in habit, with 

 simple branches. There is a very good series of forms in the 

 Edinburgh Botanic Garden, and also at Elvaston; but the 

 variety in habit assumed by seedlings may be seen in any good 

 tree nursery where these plants are grown in quantity. M. 

 Neuman succeeded in raising plants of Araucaria Cunning- 

 hamii from root-cuttings; and it is possible nay, even most 

 probable that nearly all Conifers could be increased in the 

 same manner. In the case of the Araucaria root-cuttings, they 

 were cut into lengths of two to three inches, their diameter 

 being half to three-quarters of an inch. They require time to 



