THE riNE. 



463 



and pinaster require a covering of half an inch 

 in depth, those of the Weymouth pine three 

 quarters of an inch, and those of the stone pine 

 an inch and a quarter. The cedar is generally 

 sown in broad pots, or boxes of light sandy loam, 

 and covered half an inch. The seeds of th? 

 larch require a covering of only a quarter of an 

 inch, those of the spruce fir an inch, those of the 

 silver fir and balm of Gilead, from a half to three 

 quarters of an inch. The seeds of the American 

 spruce fir are smaller than any of the preceding, 

 and therefore require a lighter covering. The 

 strictest attention is required, both as to quality 

 of soil and thickness of covering the seed, for 

 though resinous trees are extremely hardy when 

 gi-own up, yet they are all very tender in infancy. 



The pine, fir, and larch families, benefit less 

 by transplanting in the nursery than the non- 

 resinous trees; and in general, when circum- 

 stances admit, the better plan is to remove them 

 at once from the seed-bed, at two years old, to 

 where they are finally to remain. The more 

 delicate species, including the cedar and most of 

 the pines, are best transplanted into pots, unless 

 they can be placed at once where they are to 

 I'emain. The more common pines and firs are 

 transplanted, at two years of age, into nursery 

 beds about the middle of April, for aU the tribes, 

 excepting the larch, which, being deciduous, 

 should be transplanted in February. No descrip- 

 tion of tree plants receive so much injury as this 

 tribe from the loss of roots, from the roots being 

 exposed to the air, by being kept long out of 

 the soil, or fx-om compression, and exclusion of 

 air and moisture, by being kept in close bundles 

 or thick layers. They should, therefore, be 

 finally planted as soon as possible after removal 

 from the nursery, and, indeed, wherever it is 

 practicable, no more should be taken up in one 

 day than can be planted that day or the next. 

 Nor are any plants more easily deprived of the 

 vital principle by packing and carriage, either by 

 sea or land, though, being all evergreens, except- 

 ing the larch, they do not readily show it. This 

 fact, says Loudon, has been stated to us by expe- 

 rienced planters in Wales and different parts of 

 England as the reason why so few trees are 

 finally produced from the immense numbers of 

 Scotch pine and larch fir annually sent to the 

 south by the Scotch nurserymen. 



The Scotch pine being the hardiest of aU the 

 sorts, and afibrding the most useful wood, is of 

 course the most desirable for all rocky, sandy, 

 and otherwise barren soils. The young trees are 

 generally planted about four feet apart, and irre- 

 gularly, not in rows. They are planted by tak- 

 ing up a turf, digging out two or three spadefuls 

 of earth, and then depositing the plant along 

 with the earth and the turf; or they may be 

 planted, according to other directions, simply by 

 a dibble hole in the soil. After planting, the 



only care necessary for several years is protection 

 from cattle and hares, rabbits, and other vermin. 

 In about five or six years the process of pruning 

 is to be gradually commenced, in order that the 

 branches may not too much interfere with each 

 other. In about fourteen years from the date of 

 planting, thinning out trees where they are too 

 thick will now be proper; but as the upright 

 growth of these trees renders their wood the 

 more valuable, they should be left pretty close 

 together, by which they will grow up tall. I 

 have seen, says Miller, some of these trees grow- 

 ing whose naked stems have been more than 

 seventy feet high, and as straight as a walking- 

 cane ; and from one of these trees there were as 

 many boards sawed as laid the floor of a room 

 nearly twenty feet square. If these trees, he 

 adds, are left eight feet asunder each way, it will 

 be sufficient room for their gi'owth ; therefore, if 

 at first thinning a fourth part of the trees are 

 taken away, the others may stand twelve or 

 fourteen years longer, by which time they wiU 

 be of a size for making ladders and standards for 

 scaffolding, and many other useful purposes, so 

 as to yield a remunerating sum for the original 

 expense and rent of the land. In order to secure 

 these advantages, it is necessary that the soil 

 should be properly chosen; for there are instances 

 in which, during thirty years, the average 

 increase of the trees in height has hardly been 

 an inch, while, in situations not particularly 

 unfavourable, it might not be much less than 

 thirty feet. It is fortunate, however, that those 

 places which do not agree with the common pine 

 are generally well adapted for the larch ; so that 

 if the planter finds his pines will not thrive, 

 which he can soon do by observing the tur- 

 pentine exuding through the leaves and buds, 

 and covering them like hoar frost, he ought 

 immediately to root them out, and replace them 

 with larches. In like manner, when the larch 

 exhibits this appearance on the leaves, and espe- 

 cially on the branches, it will never come to 

 maturity. Care must be taken, however, not to 

 mistake the pollen for this disease. The pollen 

 appears only when the male flowers are in bloom; 

 it has a tinge of yellow, and it seldom adheres to 

 the leaves, and never to the branches ; whereas, 

 the turpentine is white and efflorescent, adheres 

 to the twigs and leaves, and cannot be shaken off 

 without difficulty. 



An evidence of the advantages resulting from 

 the cultivation of pines may be adduced from 

 a portion of Culloden Muir, near to the spot 

 where the battle was fought in 1746. It slopes 

 to the north-east, and is exposed to the cold blasts 

 of the Moray Firth. The subsoil is a deep bed 

 of clay and sand gravel ; and the surface, where 

 not planted, very baiTen, with not more than an 

 inch of mould, and that of the very worst quality. 

 A portion was enclosed and planted, about seventy 



