ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 



57 



SOW in spring the seed of the previous year, of which 

 one pound contains about fifty thousand pickles, eighty 

 per cent of which germinate under ordinary conditions. 

 The seed is winged, as may be seen in the engraving : this 

 is a common characteristic of the family, as of all the 

 firs. They are contained, like those of all the conifers, in 

 cones composed of overlapping scales. Sow thicklv. 



30. — Albies alba — White-spruce ■ 



and cover shallow with good mould, and then press the 

 soil down : this is called plomber, in technical terms of 

 the art. The seed germinates in three or four weeks, 

 and at the end of the season the plant will measure three 

 inches. The nursery-bed should be sheltered from the 

 direct rays of the sun, and to this end it is covered with 

 a trellis of laths sufiiciently high to admit a man to hoe. 

 Two years after planting out from the seed-bed, it is 



