■; they thrive best on 

 ■I' dry soils, the White 

 to the clay soils with- 

 T . On wet soils pines 

 lace, although the Red 

 , and the Loblolly (P. 



360 cc 



which they soon bfcomi 

 loose, sandy soils, an-l •■ 

 Pine adapting its. l! i - il 

 out detriment to ii 

 are, as a rule, den... -iix 

 Pine (P. resinosai, ..t il 



Tceda), and some other southern species are capable of 

 supporting such conditions. For such situations here, 

 however, the cedar tribe furnishes better material,— the 

 Chamsecyparis, Thuyas and Taxodiura. These trees of 

 the bog and swamp are, however— it should not be over- 

 looked— capable of thriving even better on drier soils. 

 They are merely indifferent to moisture conditions at 

 the foot. 



The shallow-rooted spruces are trees of the higher 

 mountain ranges, and are, therefore, more adapted to 



eld pi 





moist and cool situations, although some of them, the 

 Norway Spruce, the Blue Spruce of Colorado and the 

 northern White Spruce will— the former, at least, during 

 its juvenile period — endure more droughtv situations. 

 The firs, too, arc. rntli. r iimn- spirifs of northern 

 climates and hiL^h r.hitn.i.s. ili.' K. .1 Fir. so-called 

 (Pseudotsuga ta.nt.'h,! ^ . \\lii,l, is n..t a tir proper, be- 

 ing, perhaps, best i'a|.al.l.' ..f sij|.i...iiiii- .Irier and hot- 

 ter situations. Thi: must .n nan., iiial. an. I. in many re- 

 spects, most serviceable cf tl..' til-. J(... s .X,,r:hinn}ni- 

 ona, from the Caucasus, (i. -v. i..i.s ii~ iiiaL-'iiiIi. .-i.t .l.-nse 

 and dark green foliage in th. waim l.iit na.ist .limat.:- of 

 Washington, while our most oriiaimiital Ahiis <n„color 



CONIPEES 



from Colorado will thrive even in our drier atmos- 

 pheres of the Middle states. The fine firs of the Pacific 

 coast will probably not thrive anywhere in our drier and 

 hotter eastern climates for any length of time, unless 

 placed in cool and shadv situations. 

 The Douglas Fir ( P,.' ..•,'.*.■..-.• f„r:fni:„\ i--. ,,.rlinr.s. 



mostreadiiyacclimar.il ' -■ i . - I '■ p. ■'. <'r\- 



slopes of Colorado. T' I. i . i ■. . ... .. 



and foliage, and the [.yraiiiiiiiil /.,/,,,,,/,,,, ,/,_, .,,,,,,., arc 

 unquestionably desirable additions to our ornamental 

 stock, while the Sequoias, especially Washingtoniana, 

 the Big Tree, has shown itself capable of thriving in the 

 latitude of Rochester. 



One important feature which enters into consideration 

 when grouping Conifers, is the relative endurance of 

 shade or tolerance which the species exhibit, thereby 

 indicating their use in various positions. The yews and 

 firs are the most tolerant of shade, togetherwith the hem- 

 locks ; next may be placed the spruces , Arborvitce (Thuya) , 

 and Juniperus, while the pines are mostly intolerant orf 

 shade, excepting the White Pine, which is the most shade- 

 enduring of the pines ; the larch and the bald cypress 

 are the most light-needing of all, and will perish soon if 

 placed under the shade of any other trees. All species, 

 to be sure, are capable of more shade-endurance when 

 young and on di-i-p, m.iist soil. Their relative shade-en- 

 durance un.l.i- III. :ini....ii.litions remains, however, the 

 same, and nia n rite forest by observing the 



density of rli. i i..wiis, the capacity of main- 



taining a tliriii; 1 iii^-. iiiiilfr the shade of different 

 species, and i-.speciaiiv ot voung plants to persist in 

 such shade. 



Projxitiation. —Jiost Conifers ripen their fruit in the 

 fall, September to November, and are best gathered soon 

 after or before ripening. The pines take two years to ma- 

 ture their cones. White Pines ripen fruit in the first two 

 weeks of September, and the cones opening, shed the 

 seeds at once, the empty cones remaining on the branches. 

 The cones of the firs fall apart upon ripening, hence 

 nnist 1.1' leathered before being quite ripe. 'Spruces and 

 l.ciiil...ks shed seeds from time to time, opening and 

 .-l.tsiiiL,' into next spring. Some pines, like Pimts pitn- 

 •l<iis and SI rotina. keep their cones closed for years, and 

 artificial heat must be employed to make them open and 

 give up their seed. In gathering seeds for the trade, such 

 artificial heat is frequently applied w^ith pines in specially 

 constructed seed roasters"; such seed should be carefully 

 inspected, as it sometimes suffers from improper use of 

 the heat. 



The proportion of germinating seeds, and the vitality, 

 i. e., the ability of retaining germinative power, varies 

 greatly not only with the seasons in the same species, 

 but from species to species. 



The lowest germination percentage and vitality is found 

 in firs and larch, which show rarely more than 50 per 

 cent of good seed, and soon lose their vitality, while 

 spruce and pine, when entirely fresh, may show as much 

 as 95 to 100 per cent germination, and retain vitality for 

 2 to 5 years, losing each year a proportion, Norway 

 Spruce 5 years old still having 10 per cent germination. 



In trade, a germination percentage for spruce of 75 to 

 80; pine, 70 to 75; fir, 30 to .50; larch, 20 to 40, should be 

 acceptable. 



Seeds are best kept in a dry, cool garret in tight bags 

 or boxes, excluding the air as much as possible. 



All seeds require a short rest or after-ripening of two 

 to four weeks before they are ready to germinate, and 

 some, like the Taxus and Juniper, lie over, even in nature, 

 for a year or more before they germinate. The latter 

 should be prepared for sowing by macerating them, and 

 removing the pulp in hot water, then mixing with sharp 

 sand in bags, and by friction freeing the seed from the 

 pulp. 



In the seed-bed somewhat more care is required than 

 with most other species of trees. A thoroughly mellow, 

 well pulverized seed-bed of light, loamy sand, possibly 

 enriched with well decomposed manure (cow-dung better 

 than horse-dung), is required, the covering of the seed 

 varying, according to size, from a mere sprinkling for 

 larch to one-quarter inch for the heavy-seeded pines. 

 They may be sown as soon as the weather is settled, in 

 northern latitudes the second or third week in May, best 



