82 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



given point will seldom make much difference in hardiness, 

 unless the climatic conditions are very dissimilar. 



The place where the trees that we are to set out are grown 

 is not of so great importance as the source of the seeds from 

 which they are grown: e. g., seedlings of Red Cedar grown in 

 Missouri from seeds of native Minnesota trees would be safer 

 to plant here than seedlings raised in Minnesota from the 

 seeds of native Missouri trees. 



Seedling Variations. In our common trees variations are 

 not sufficiently marked but that we think of the trees as com- 

 ing true from seeds, and yet careful observation will show to 

 any one that each seedling plant is different from neighboring 

 plants of the same species. Sometimes a seedling will occur 

 that possesses especially pleasing or curious characteristics 

 that are very marked and desirable. In such cases the seed- 

 ling is generally propagated by some method of bud-division 

 and makes a new variety. In ihis way have originated such 

 highly-esteemed kinds as Wier's Cut-leaf Maple, which was a 

 chance seedling of the Soft Maple; the Weeping American 

 Elm, Cutleaf Birch, Weeping Mountain Ash, Pyramidal 

 Arbor vitye, and a host of other kinds that are propagated by 

 bud-division by nurserymen. The person who is on the look- 

 out for these or other variations will have no trouble in find- 

 ing many that may perhaps be worth naming and propa- 

 gating. 



Gathering Seeds. All kinds of seeds should be gathered 

 when ripe. In some cases it is best to pick them from the 

 trees even before they are quite ripe after which they wil 1 

 ripen if kept dry. Unripe seeds do not keep as well as per 

 fectly ripe seeds. Most kinds of tree seeds are most cheaply 

 gathered from the ground. In some cases this method can b< 

 greatly facilitated by cleaning up the land under the trees so 

 it will be smooth and even. Seeds of some species can oftei 

 be swept up at little expense from under trees growing alonf 

 the highway. 



Germination of Seeds. There are many conditions whici 

 affect the germination of seeds: 



(1. ) Seeds which are thoroughly ripened before they ar; 

 gathered produce the best plants. Very immature seeds wil 

 very often grow, .but the tendency with them is to produo 



