90 



PURCHASING PLANTS, 



for several years in nursery lines, and have arrived 

 at a considerable height, if they are too much 

 crowded, many of their lower branches will be in a 

 half decayed or withered condition, or the stems 

 will be entirely devoid of branches of any kind, ex- 

 cepting within a few inches of the top, even where 

 the pruning-knife has never been applied. This is 

 a mark so plain that no one can mistake it. 



Care should be taken not to purchase plants that 

 betray symptoms of disease. When larches, not 

 more than three years old, cast the whole, or even 

 the greater part, of their leaves, just when the win- 

 ter commences, it is a sure sign that they are in an 

 unhealthy state, and that many of them will die in 

 the course of next season ; for under this age the 

 larch shovild retain a considerable quantity of its 

 old leaves till spring. Scots firs may be regarded 

 as sickly when the points of their leaves or pins be- 

 come withered, or when they change their naturally 

 dark colours into a faint yellowish green. Any ves- 

 tige of withering on the Spruce, Silver, or Balm of 

 Gilead firs is a sure prognostication of approaching 

 decay. Any kind of fir whatever that has lost its 

 leader may be considered as entirely useless. 



The birch is sometimes infected with a distemper 

 which appears in red spots or blotches on the leaves. 



