464 CONIFERS. 



imperfectly ventilated. In this country, the twigs of the 

 Spruce are often used to protect the blossom of wall-fruit 

 trees, being inserted among the shoots of the latter pre- 

 viously to the expansion of the flowers, and allowed to 

 remain till the spicula fall off and the fruit is well set ; 

 we have also found the branches excellent protectors, 

 during winter, of half hardy shrubs and plants, either 

 when growing against a wall or in the open borders, 

 their close and thick foliage preventing the access and 

 injurious effects of severe and long-continued frosts. 



The propagation and culture of the Spruce in the nur- 

 sery is similar to that of the Pinus syhestris, the seeds 

 procured from the long cylindrical cones being sown in 

 fine, light, pulverized earth, so thick as to rise within 

 a quarter of an inch of each other ; here they must re- 

 main for two years, their growth being very slow ; but 

 on the third, when they begin to put out their first 

 lateral branches, they may be taken from the seed-bed 

 and run into nursery rows, from whence, after having stood 

 for two or three years, they may be removed to where 

 they are finally to remain, plants of this age succeeding 

 better than those which have stood long, or attained a 

 height of four or five feet in the nursery. As the roots 

 of the young Spruce are numerous and much more fibrous 

 than those of the Scotch Pine, they ought, unless of very 

 small size, to be inserted by pitting, and not by the T 

 or slit method, which might cramp and injure the deli- 

 cate rootlets ; and it should also be kept in mind, that 

 success in planting depends much upon the weather, which 

 is most propitious for this operation when mild and moist, 

 and that the roots of the trees to be planted should remain 

 as short a time as possible exposed to the air. 



If grown for profit or as a timber tree, the Spruce, as 



