S.9i COXTFER-E. 



from the earliest age. Lave ample room on every side, 

 nor should any other plant he suffered to interfere with 

 the growth of the lower branches, as upon the retention 

 of these, which are so essential to the perfect pyramidal 

 form of the true firs, their beauty and elegance chiefly 

 depend. The propagation of the Abietin&, upon an ex- 

 tensive scale, can only he effected by seeds, which, how- 

 ever, are produced in abundance by most species after 

 they attain a certain age, by a succession of cones which 

 are a longer or a shorter time in arriving at maturity, in 

 some kinds several years being' required to ripen the seed 

 contained, whilst in others this is effected in the course 

 of a tew months. Most of the species may also be in- 

 creased by layers or by cuttings, a mode of propagation 

 known in the time of Evelyn, who mentions it as a 

 - considerable secret." Inarching on closely allied species 

 has also been successfully practised; and, within the last 

 thirty or forty years, what is called herbaceous grafting, 

 — an operation we shall afterwards have occasion to speak 

 of more in detail, — seems to be the most approved mode 

 of artificially increasing species lately introduced and which 

 have not yet reached a cone-bearing age. Upon the cul- 

 ture and management of the Abietlna in general we con- 

 clude our remarks for the present, reserving further obser- 

 vation on these subjects till we enter upon the particular 

 descriptions of the different species admitted within the 

 limits of our work, and we .shall also leave to the same 

 opportunity our observations on the various diseases, acci- 

 dents, &c. to which they are subject, as well as an enu- 

 meration of the insects by which they are infested or 

 attacked. 



