ON ORNAMENTAL TREES 



Whether further modifications in the giant 

 trees could be wrought by hybridizing the two 

 forms or by selection among variant seedlings is 

 a question of interest. 



Presumably, such modifications could be 

 brought about were there time for it. But in 

 dealing with a tree that is a mere child when it 

 has outlived half a dozen generations of men, the 

 plant developer feels himself in the presence of 

 forces that lie almost beyond his ken. 



Moreover the attempt to deal experimentally 

 with the redwood is made difficult by the fact that 

 the tree seldom bears seed. Some of the woodmen 

 claim that it bears once in seven years, but this is 

 doubtless a mere guess, instigated by the popular 

 superstition connected with the number seven. On 

 one occasion, some thirty years ago, I was in- 

 formed that the redwoods were loaded with seed. 

 I went out with some helpers and gathered a dozen 

 grain sacks or more of the cones, which could be 

 obtained in any desired quantity. On drying the 

 cones I found that the seeds themselves made up 

 half the total weight. 



There was a good deal of variation in the cones 

 themselves and in the seed from different trees. 



The seed when dried kept its germinating 

 quality for seven or eight years. But only a very 

 small proportion of the seeds will germinate under 



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