5S WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
may be gathered in the winter, as the scales do not usually 
open, to allow the seeds to escape, until the spring. Most of 
them, when perfectly dry, open spontaneously, and allow the 
seeds to be shaken out. In others they must be released by 
exposure to the sun or by force, either by cutting open the cone 
with a sharp instrument, or by beating, or by crushing in a 
bark-mill. T’wo winged seeds are usually found above each 
scale. 
The best time for sowing the seeds is early in spring, as soon 
as the frost is out of the ground. If sown in autumn, they are 
liable to be devoured by mice and squirrels. If a few trees 
are to be provided for ornament or shade, the seeds may be 
sown in a prepared seed-bed of pulverized earth, and loosely 
covered to the depth of one-eighth or at most one-fourth of an 
inch. The bed should be in a sheltered situation, and the surface 
should be protected from the action of the wind and sun by 
loose branches, straw, or leaves. The soil of the secd-bed should 
be loamy or sandy, and, as m the case of the seed-beds of most 
other trees, it should be rich; as the thrift of the future tree 
depends much upon the vigor of the first shoot. The practice 
in France is to sow them in somewhat rich bog earth, or a mix- 
ture of this with sand.* The seeds should be sown in rows for 
the convenience of keeping the plants free from weeds. They 
have been observed to come up in from thirty to fifty days, but, 
in some instances, do not make their appearance until the suc- 
ceeding spring or even later.t After they have grown two years 
in the seed-bed, they may be transplanted to a sheltered and 
fertile nursery, where they should remain at least one year 
before being removed to the spot where they are to stand. 
Such is the course to be pursued when it is an object to have 
fine trees in the shortest time. But when poor, thin, rocky 
or sandy land is to be clothed with wood, and it is important 
to save the time and expense of the several transplantations, 
the seeds may be sown where the trees are intended to remain. 
They must be sown abundantly, as they are obnoxious to de- 
* Le Bon Jardinier, p. 978. 
+ Loudon’s Arboretum, 2132, 
