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This well known tree, though tall, seldom grows straight, and the hranclie^ shoot rather obhquely. 

 The hark is rongh and cracked. The leaver are short, pungent, concave on the upper surface, convex 

 on the under, and of a pale green colour. The male Jloxuer^ are whitish. The pollen is sometimes in 

 spring carried away bj the wind in such quantities, as to alarm the ignorant with the notion of its 

 raining brimstone. The dtrohili, or cones, arc small, nearly conical, and pointed; they grow to the 

 number of two, three, or four together round the branches. While they are young, they are generally 



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pendent, and of a purplish colour. The ^qiicunce, or scaled of the cones project in the middle, and 

 form four distinct arese, or compartments. The 4ecd4 are small, somewhat like those of P. Abies. 



As P. dylveMru grows spontaneously in Scotland, Denmark, Norway, and other countries in the 

 north of Europe, it would seem that a cold climate alone suited it, but experience proves that when it 

 is properly reared and planted, no temperature, scarcely, impedes its growth to a considerable size. 



The seeds should be procured in the following manner. The cones, which must be gathered 

 in the winter, should be preserved until the month of June, when they must be occasionally brought 

 forth, and exposed to the utmost heat of the sun; this will cause the scales to open, so that the seeds 

 niay easily be shaken out. They should be laid on a large carpet, or oil cloth, which will save the seeds 

 that drop when the cones are turned, for as often as the scales on one side of them are opeucd, it is 

 proper that the other should be turned to the siin to receive the same effect. These seeds will be fit 

 to be sown in the spring following; the middle of April or May is the best time. Warm dry weather 

 is requisite for the sowing, and 'a fine light mould. Beds should be made in the seminary three or four 

 feet wide, and the seeds sown in these at a little more than a quarter of an inch in depth. The youn^ 

 Firs will appear in about six weeks, with the husks of the seeds on their heads, and at this period they 

 must bc'carefally watched, for if the sparrows or other birds once take to them, they will destroy every ' 

 plaiit as fast as it comes up, so fdad are tliese creatures of the husks. Tn order therefore to secure the 

 young crops, it will be proper 'to cover them with some good nets, and to draw over the latter strino-s 



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with feathers tied across, that before they have any temptation, the birds may be frio-htened away, and 

 the plants, at their first appearance, remain unnoticed by them. As soon as all the plants are come up, 

 and have parted with their husks,' the nets and strings with feathers may be taken off, for the seedlino-g 

 will then be out of danger. 



The following summer they will need no other care than being kept free from weeds. In the latter 

 end of March, or the beginning of April, the second year, they should be taken out of those beds, 

 and put into others at the distance of three or four inches from each other. When they are first 

 removed, being one year old from the seeds, they will be found to have no shoot, but are slender plants 

 with small weak buds; and by the spring following few of them will have made a shoot, thouo-h the 

 bud will be considerably stronger. In the spring of the third year the young Firs ouo-ht to be removed 

 a second time, viz. into the nursery, where they should be planted about one foot asunder, and at the 

 distance of two feet in the rows. The ensuing summer they will have grown to the heio-ht of one foot, 



In the spring of the fourth year, if the ground designed for the plantation be ready, and 

 there be no rabbits nor hares near the spot, they may be transplanted for the last time. If any of the 

 animals just mentioned have the means of getting to them, it will be most advisable to defer the final 

 removal to another year. Plantations are often wholly destroyed by hares, the winter after they are 

 made, unless they have acquired some strength and reached the height of three or four feet. But here 

 it ought to be remarked, that the larger the trees may be grown, the greater will be the difficulty of 

 removing them, and when they are of a tolerable height, many will necessarily be lost after they have 

 been transplanted. It is advisable to allow Firs, in all open situations, the distance of four feet or more, 

 and to place them irregularly in the final place of growth. They will always flourish best when planted 

 in turf, or where the earth has not been disturbed. (From" not attending to this circumstance, it 

 often happens that the trees become unhealthy and defective. Fruit trees, in some parts of the west 

 of England, particularly Wiltshire, are apt to suffer in the same way, on account of having a border 

 before them; and I have known a large garden planted three times, in consequence of this circum- 



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