I. THE PINES. 57 
The pines are most readily propagated by seed. In and near 
the pine forests, they are sown naturally by the opening of the 
cones when mature, and the dispersion of the wimged seeds by 
the wind. As the seeds of most species are very light, they are 
often carried to a considerable distance, and their abundance is 
such, that a single tree is sufficient to furnish seed for many 
acres. A few pines scattered through a forest of deciduous 
trees, fill the ground with seed, in a series of years, so com- 
pletely, that when the forest is cut down, it not unfrequently 
happens that a pine forest springs up in its place. 
If the trees are to be propagated artificially, the seed must be 
deposited on or near the surface; it should not be buried be- 
neath, or, in case this is absolutely necessary, as when they 
are sown in open fields, the covering should not exceed an 
eighth of an inch, and should be light and loose. A soil and 
surface formed by the decay of the leaves of deciduous trees, is 
best, as it is precisely that in which the seed naturally vegetates. 
There are now, in every part of Massachusetts, large tracts of 
land which are too sterile, or too rough and rocky, to be culti- 
vated to advantage, which might be easily sown with the dif- 
ferent species of pmme adapted to the various soils. ‘The pitch 
pine would cover the sands, the red cedar and larch the rocky 
hills, the white cedar the swamps, and the hemlock and spruce 
and white pine all the regions between. Such tracts are usually 
overrun with low bushes, amongst which the seeds might be 
cast, and which would afford protection to the young plants 
against the winds, and the heat of the sun. 
All the pines require to be cultivated in large masses. ‘They 
naturally grow thus, and although, when so growing, they seem 
to be extremely hardy, they do not thrive when solitary, but 
are parched by the sun, and stunted by the cold and wind. In 
masses, especially when large enough to cover several acres, 
they not only protect each other, but are the best possible nurses 
for the tender deciduous trees. For this purpose, they are ex- 
tensively employed in all young plantations in England and 
France, where the cultivation of forest trees has received the 
sreatest attention. 
The cones, which are mature after one, two, or three seasons, 
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