90 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICDL.TDRI8T. 



should be mixed with moist sand and 

 exposed to frost and planted as early as 

 possible in the spring, taking care that 

 they are at no time left in masses under 

 conditions so as to heat. Many failures 

 with seed arise from not sowing it in 

 partial shade. If seeds are exposed 

 alternately to hot sunshine and cold, 

 while they are swelling, they will 

 frequently rot before they appear above 

 the surface. The I'equisite shade may 

 be obtained by the use of brush wood, 

 or a light layer of corn stalks or straw, 

 removing this as soon as the seedlings 

 are up and fairly established. Many 

 nurserymen enclose their seedbeds with 

 wooden frames, on which are laid light 

 frames m;ule of one-inch strips and 

 covered with cotton or muslin. These 

 are convenient and can be provided at 

 small cost. Seedlings of evergreen trees 

 grow slowly and require to be shaded 

 and kept moist during hot weather all 

 through the first year of their growth 

 and sometimes longer. Seeds take 

 some time to swell their coats after 

 being placed in the ground, hence, if 

 planted dry, tliey should be sown as 

 soon as soil can be had to cover them. 

 Germination may be hastened, especially 

 with seeds of a hard texture, by pour- 

 ing hot water on them and allowing 

 them to soak for twenty-four hours 

 before sowing. 



Seeds sometimes fail to grow from 

 being planted too deep. The larger 

 nuts and acorns should be covered with 

 soil about as deep as the seed is thick ; 

 other smaller seeds should not be 

 covered with more than half an inch 

 of mellow soil, pressed gently with the 

 back of a spade so as to make the earth 

 firm around them, and when the young 

 seedlings appear they should be care- 

 fully weeded. Occasionally seeds will 

 remain in the ground until the following 

 season without germinating. Should 

 any fail to grow by the time spring is 

 ovei", and on examination the kernels 



are found sound, the seedbeds should 

 be kept weeded and shaded until the 

 next season." 



THE DKECIOUS CHARACrER OF THE 

 MULBERRY. 



33. My Mulberry Tree was full of blos- 

 soms, but they all dropped off. This 

 itxts the first year it blossomed. I was 

 reading in the Horticidturist. p. 2B7, 

 Vol. IX., that the Russian Mtdberry was 

 dioscious, requiring two or more trees to 

 grow together. On my tree the leaves 

 are of different shapes, some being ser- 

 rated, while the most of them are lobed, 

 like an oak leaf. Will I have to get 

 another tree before I may hope to eat 

 the fruit of the -mulberry ? 



[J. B. BuRK, Brougham.] 



REPLY BY SIMON ROY, BERLIN, ONT. 



Referring to Mr. J. B. Burk's in- 

 quiry I have to say that his Russian 

 Mulberry tree is a male ( Staminate), 

 and only a flowering specimen, con- 

 sequently he can never expect to have 

 fruit on it. 



The sexuality of })lants was fii'st dis- 

 covered by Linnaeus, the Swedish 

 Botanist, and is now generally under- 

 stood. Various varieties of trees and 

 plants are of a dioecious character, i.e., 

 one being a male and the other a 

 female, as is the case with birches, 

 poplars and larches; also in grape vines 

 (Vites): example, the Sultana Raisins 

 of commerce are the product of a 

 female or pistillate flowering vine and 

 are devoid of seeds, and ''our native 

 mignonette, scented variety, is a male 

 or staminate plant, beai-ing no fruit. 

 Since the propagation of the mulberry 

 is so simple, by growing it from cuttings, 

 it is only necessary for him to get a few 

 from a neighbor who has a fruit-bearing 

 tree, or to obtain scions and top- work 

 his tree by either budding or grafting. 



The female tree bears fruit but not 

 seeds, and it has serrated leaves only. 



