20 ACERACB.E. 



larly of some of the genus Bombus, viz., B. hortorum and 

 B. Terrestris ; they are produced soon after the expansion 

 of the leaves, and the tree frequently ripens fertile seeds 

 before it is twenty years old. 



The Sycamore is propagated entirely by seed, except as 

 regards the blotch-leaved and other varieties which are 

 increased by budding and grafting. The seeds, when ripe, 

 are best sown immediately after being gathered, but if 

 kept till spring, they should be mixed or covered with 

 sand, as when kept dry they soon lose their vegetative 

 power. At the end of the first year the young trees 

 should be transplanted from the seed beds into nursery 

 rows, and as their growth is very rapid, they will be fit 

 to plant out permanently at two or three years old. With 

 due care the Sycamore may be moved when of a consi- 

 derable age and size ; we have succeeded, in several in- 

 stances, where the tree was about six inches in diameter, 

 and upwards of twenty feet high ; such plants, however, 

 possessed, as Sir H. Steward expresses it, all " the pro- 

 tecting qualities 11 likely to ensure success. It is also an 

 eligible tree to plant in hedge-rows, where protection from 

 the prevailing winds is desired, as it carries an erect stem 

 and wide head, even in the most exposed situations ; and 

 we would recommend its insertion as a principal in narrow 

 belts made for the same purpose, taking care to keep 

 them well thinned from an early age, otherwise, a toler- 

 able tree, or one able to resist the blast, can never be 

 expected, as Ave see too frequently exemplified in those 

 starved-looking belts, where thinning has either been en- 

 tirely neglected, or only applied after the trees, by their 

 proximity to each other, have been ruined in constitution 

 and drawn up to mere poles, rendering them incapable, 



