CULTIVATION, 



5 



sowing of the right seed in the right place : for it does not follow as a 

 corollary that healthy seed if carelessly managed will produce healthy 

 seedlings ; nor that healthy seedlings if injudiciously cultivated will 

 produce healthy plants ; nor that healthy plants if planted in un- 

 healthy soils will produce healthy trees. These latter conditions, 

 however, though quite as indispensable as healthy seed, and other equally 

 self-evident axioms ; are, if admitted, not generally acted upon ; inas- 

 much as the instances are neither few nor far between that, in our 

 modes of raising and cultivating, such facts are completely ignored ; 

 for in most public nurseries, and, also, in most private establishments, 

 we find tliat all new, rare, or high-priced firs and pines, be they hardy 

 or tender, tree or shrub, are like most novelties timongst fair Flora's 

 exotic beauties, first steamed in a hot-bed, then potted and transferred 

 to an intermediate house, a second-shift and cold frame, after which, 

 perchance, a season or two's close confinement in a larger than a thumb- 

 pot ; or it may be stuck into a big pot or tub and sent to the plung- 

 ing ground in nursery-beds or garden-borders. Should such plants 

 escape the rubbish heap — their proper sepulchre, — and eventually find 

 tlieii* way to permanent quarters in arboretum' or pinetum, wood or 

 forest, park or plantation, lawn or shrubbery ; with their roots a con- 

 glomeration of cork-screws; and each and all of the component organs 

 of their systems in a more or less diseased condition; what can we 

 expect of them ? Or, again, as is too frequently the case, where fire, 

 glass, and pots have been dispensed with, and the open ground 

 system adopted ; the practices are here likewise very reprehensible ; for 

 sheltered corners, stimulants, nay, prisons are the watch-words of the 

 culturists. Moreover, it frequently happens that many of them are 

 subjected to still more cruel treatment than I have indicated. 



After such treatment can we expect that a seed, seedling, or plant of 

 either fi.r or pine, will not require some considerable period of time to 

 recover from the injuries done to its system in its infancy by such doc- 

 toring, stimulating, pampering, and mistaken kindness? In our pro- 

 pagation and cultivation while in a young state, I think, have we the 

 cause which produces such effects as heart-rot, disease, decay, and pre- 

 mature death amongst them. Then, if profitable timber, perfect health, 

 sound growth, and utility or ornament be our object in introducing 

 and cultivating the firs and pines ; we must take i^ature and common 

 sense for our guides, and propagate from seed, cultivate upon rational 

 principles, feed with proper food, and plant in suitable soils. As a 

 matter of course, where we find any of the varieties, sub-varieties, or 



