CHAPTER VII. 
sg 
PROPAGATION, PLANTING AND CULTURE. 
It may be stated as a general rule, that the best and 
cheapest mode of growing forest trees for timber is 
by means of the seed. Most kinds of trees may be 
propagated by layers, many from cuttings; but the 
result is often the production of inferior trees. Excep- 
tions may be found in the Willows, most if not all 
the Poplars, the Buttonwood, etc., which are most 
readily grown from cuttings. As no uniform mode 
of management can be practiced in gathering, pre- 
serving and planting the different kinds of tree seeds, 
their treatment will be best given in connection with 
the descriptions of the classes or species to which 
they belong. 
To prepare the soil for the reception of seeds to be 
planted where the trees are to remain, or for young 
trees from the seed-bed, the ground should be deeply 
ploughed and rendered mellow. It may then be 
marked out in rows four feet apart. If tall, straight 
timber is desired, the young trees must be planted 
thickly in the rows, and thinned as their growth re- 
