PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 133 



England. At the present day all seeds of these trees for northern 

 growths are collected on the northern slopes of the Rocky Moun- 

 tams where the summers are hot and the wmters are cold, hence the 

 necessity of having the seed from the best trees near by or from 

 those gro^vTi in similar climates. Seeds should be as fresh as 

 possible and the sooner they are cleaned and sown the better results. 

 INIany seeds which would germinate the first season, if so^ti as soon 

 as gathered, would lay in the ground until the second season, if 

 thoroughly dried before sowing. 



Of course when seeds have to travel a long distance they must be 

 thoroughly dried or they are apt to mildew and spoil. The proper 

 collection and treatment of seeds is as necessary as the proper 

 planting. Hence the necessity of having them well prepared for 

 a long journey. They should be thoroughly dried. Many seeds 

 such as chestnut, oak, beech, corylus, horse chestnut, common 

 chestnut, hickory, lindera, magnolia, and others of like nature, will 

 not germinate unless packed in dry earth or sphagnum moss that is 

 barely moist. Many seeds such as cherry, plum, and peach, unless 

 subjected to hard freezing, will not germinate the first year. Many 

 will not germinate until the second year under any artificial condi- 

 tion, and often seeds will lay in the ground three years and then 

 germinate. It is well, if you have not the ground in the condition 

 to plant, to stratify all seeds as soon as cleaned, that is, put them 

 away mixed with layers of sand or earth and keep them in a cool 

 cellar or frame until spring. When small quantities are used they 

 can be put in small boxes and mixed with sand, or if large lots they 

 can be stratified out of doors. It is well to have the sand or soil 

 used fine enough to run through a sieve. By ha\ing different sized 

 sieves the seed can easily be separated from the sand. 



In all large nurseries where there are quantities of peaches, plums, 

 hawthorns, cherries, luidens, and junipers the seed is mixed with 

 piles of earth on the surface of the ground, stacked up and left cov- 

 ered with sods or boards until spring. Such seeds as those of honey 

 locust and other hard and bony seeds which have become thoroughly 

 dried, should be treated with hot w^ater (so as to swell before plant- 

 ing), otherwise they would come up scattered at intervals for several 

 years. 



The first consideration is what you desire to plant ; the second to 



