188 SPRUCE FIR. 
The mode of propagation is by seed. The cones may be 
collected in winter or in spring, and the mode of extracting 
the seeds and of sowing them, is similar to that recommended 
for the Pinus sylvestris. (See PINE TREE.) 
When the plants have grown two seasons in the seed-bed, 
they are generally from seven to nine inches high, and fit 
for being transplanted ; but sometimes, from unfavourable 
soils or seasons, they are of weaker growth, In that case, if 
they stand thin, they may be safely left in the seed-beds 
during the third summer, and then transplanted. No other 
species of the Conifer admits so well of being kept three 
years in the seed-bed ; but when the spruce has sufficient 
space, its naturally fibrous roots adapt the plant for removal, 
in perfect safety, at that age. 
The plants are sometimes removed direct from the seed- 
bed into their permanent abode. In moorland, and situa- 
tions where the surface herbage is not too strong for plants of 
this size, and particularly where the soil is of a kindly nature, 
the practice is quite successful. The more common mode, 
however, is to transplant the seedlings into nursery-lines for 
one or two years, according to the description of ground they 
are intended to occupy. One-year transplanted plants are 
seldom much larger than they were at the time of being 
transplanted from the seed-bed, but they are much hardier, 
their roots are more bushy, and they suffer less from trans- 
plantation the second time. If plants are to be removed 
after being only one year transplanted, they may be inserted 
in the lines much closer than when they are to remain two 
years. In the former case, the lines may only be about eight 
inches apart, and the plants about two inches asunder. In 
the latter case, the lines should be one foot apart, and the 
plants three or four inches distant. A common method prac- 
tised by nurserymen is to thsert the lines closely, and before 
the second season’s growth to remove every other line, thus 
making the distance of the lines apart the second double that 
of the first year. Two-years transplanted plants are those 
usually employed in plantations ; but if the plants are allowed 
