ILLUSTRATED GUIDE. 



lO'J 



the willow, as well as most of the ash-tribe, if they are 

 expected to show themselves the first year. 



The seeds of the conifers will sprout much sooner if 

 they are steeped in hot water four or five days before 

 sowing. The water must be changed every day, to avoid 

 fermentation, and the seeds should be mixed with fine, 

 dry sand, to facilitate the operation of sowing. 



I should not advise novices to collect their own seed. 

 Even experts do not find it an easy job. Still, the seeds 

 of ash and maple are not difficult to 

 recognize and collect, and it would be 

 well to try to gather in the "woods for 

 ourselves the seeds of the fir, the red- 

 and white-maple, the elm, the poplar, 

 and the willow ; for these all lose their 

 power of germination in a very short 

 time. Buy them of seedsmen, and you 

 stand a good chance of their never 

 coming up. 



For the rest, they may be bought 

 with advantage from men who make a 

 special business of collecting them, and 

 whose prices are relatively moderate, 

 running from one dollar to three 

 dollars a pound. The latter price is 

 rarely exceeded. I have stated, in 

 species, the number of pickles in a pound 6f seed of 

 each variety, and special information has been given as 

 to the treatment of each sort of seed. 



loi. — Seed of ash-leaved 

 maple. 



describing 



the 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SEED-BEDS AND NURSERIES. 

 The cultivation of trees from seed is, comparatively, 

 very easy. If the following hints be remembered, no one 



