PercivaVs Three Flowers. 197 



The seed should be sown in autumn in a rich soil. Loudon 

 observes that the Apple, like most other hardy trees, may be 

 propagated by seeds, cuttings, layers, suckers or graftings ; by 

 seeds for obtaining new varieties, and by the other modes for 

 continuing such as are in esteem. The seeds should be taken 

 from fruits having the properties it is desired to perpetuate or 

 improve, in the highest degree. In collecting seeds to sow, it 

 should be remembered that the habits as well as the diseases of 

 plants are often hereditary, and attention must be paid to the 

 state of the tree from which the seeds are taken ; it should be 

 large, of free growth, and rather in a growing state, than one of 

 maturity or decay. When the shoots spring up, thin them care- 

 fully at the distances of two inches apart, and keep them free 

 from weeds. At two years of age, sometimes earlier, says Ken- 

 rick, they are taken up, their top roots shortened and transferred 

 to the nursery in rows about four feet asunder, one foot distance 

 from each other in the row in a rich loamy soil. When seven 

 feet high, transplant them to the orchard, in which, in extremely 

 fertile soil, plant them fifty feet apart, but if not extraordinary, 

 half that distance, the idea being to make their shadows cover 

 the ground. Fruit bearing, it is well known, exhausts trees as 

 well as diminishes their growth ; consequently the Apple must be 

 very short-lived. A rich soil, rather moist, and on the north side 

 of a hill, is the best. We are told that land half covered with 

 rocks, and incapable of being cultivated with the plow, is in 

 many respects admirably suited for an apple orchard. 



PERCIVAL'S THREE FLOWERS 



A tulip blossomed one morning in. May, 



By the side of a sanded alley ; 

 Its leaves were dressed in rich array, 

 Like the clouds at the earliest dawn of day, 



When the mist rolls over the valley. 



The dew had descended the night before, 



And lay on its velvet bosom, 

 And its spreading urn was flowing o'er, 

 And the crystal heightened the tints it bore, 



On its yellow and crimson blossom. 



