By Mr. George Gordon. 



347 



such a compost is to keep them as dry as possible, and to pot them 

 off the first or second day after they are fairly up ; for if left twenty 

 four hours longer it is very probable they will nearly all have 

 damped off, particularly if a little water is given, or it happens to 

 be damp or wet weather at the time. 



3. Always to sow the seeds in dry Loam ; to give very little 

 water until the seeds are fairly up, and then only sparingly. 



4. To cause the seeds to vegetate as quickly as possible after 

 sowing, more particularly if the seeds are old or damaged, taking 

 great care however, that, before they are fairly above ground, they 

 are removed to a much cooler place, where there is plenty of 

 light and air and they can be secured from frost. 



5. Not to let the young seedlings remain very long in the seed 

 pots before they are potted off, and to give plenty of air to them 

 after they are potted, with as little artificial heat as possible. 



6. Always to plant them out in the open ground after the 

 second year. If Pines are kept any length of time in pots, especially 

 if not regularly shifted twice a year, their roots become pot- 

 bound, and as they are a race of plants which make few roots, and 

 those always near the surface of the ground, they are almost sure, 

 if confined many years in pots, to be blown over or to one side, and 

 when this has once happened they hardly ever become firm, or 

 make handsome trees. 



