115 THE CANADIAN FORESTEIiV 



seedlings from drying during the work : for them, to 

 dry is to die. Conifers, especially, perish at once after 

 even a few minutes exposure of their roots to the air. 



Hoeing and horse-hoeing must be frequently attended 

 to after transplantation into the nursery. 



Such are the principal rules for sowing the seeds of 

 forest-trees and setting out the seedlings in the nursery. 

 Exceptions to these rules occur : I have spoken of thera 

 in the chapter specially devoted to the species in ques- 

 tion. 



CHAPTER XIY. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



Some varieties of trees are easily propagated by means 

 of cuttings, and the advantages of this practice, as 

 regards those species which admit of it,^re considerable. 

 The procedure is far quicker and surer than seeding, 

 and aflFords, very rapidly, strong, healthy plants. 



Poplars and willows are the trees best adapted to 

 propagation by cuttings. The former should be divided 

 into lengths of about tw^o feet by an inch and a half or 

 two inches in diameter, leaving one end round and the 

 other cut into the form of a wedge ; taking great care not 

 to bruise the bark. The wedge-shaped end is to be stuck 

 in the ground. Poplar-cuttings should be made in 

 autumn, after the fall of the leaf. Willows may be pro- 

 pagated in like manner, but any season will do for 

 them. 



To plant these cuttings, proceed as follows : spread a 

 good dressing of dung, and plough it in with a deep 

 furrow. A second ploughing will mix the manure well 

 with the earth ; the cutting is then thrust into the 



