Acer — Japanese Maples. 



49 



so much light on the general subject, and explains so 

 many of the peculiarities of certain Japanese plants, a brief 

 quotation may not here be out of place. 



In setting out to produce these abnormal results, Mr. 

 Izawa says that the workman begins with the seed, and 

 that great care is taken to pro- 

 cure seed of the very best 

 quality. " In the spring of the 

 second year, when the seed- 

 lings are about eight inches in 

 height, they are staked with 

 bamboo-canes and tied with 

 rice straw, the plants 

 being bent in differ- 

 ent desirable shapes. 

 In the next fall they 

 are transplanted to a 

 richer soil, and are 

 well fertilized. In the 

 following spring the 

 plants are restaked, 

 and twisted and tied 

 in fanciful forms. This mode of treatment is given until 

 the seventh year, when the trees will have assumed 

 fairly large proportions, the branches being trained in grace- 

 ful forms, and the foliage like small clouds of dense green. 

 The plants are now taken up and placed in pots one and 

 a half feet in diameter, and are kept well watered every 

 succeeding year ; great care must be taken to keep new 

 shoots pinched back. After another three years of this 



JAPANESE MAPLE. 



