168 



rRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



budding and grafting are practiced in multiplying rare species 

 and varieties. The seeds should never be allowed to get thor- 

 oughly dry, but as soon as removed from the pulp, be mixed 

 with moist sand or soil, or sovvm immediately. Layers put 

 down in spring root freely, but it is well to allow the layered 

 branch to grow undisturbed through the entire first season, 

 neither cutting it back or removing any of the leaves. Bud- 

 ding may be done in summer while there is a rapid flow of sap, 

 but grafting is generally most successful upon stocks grown or 

 kept in a propagating house until the cion has united, and made 

 one season's growth. In grafting the evergreen species, the 

 cion should be inserted in the side of the stock and below some 

 good healthy leaves, somewhat after the manner of grafting 

 conifers. Magnolias should never be transplanted in the 

 autumn, especially in cool climates, as their roots are quite 

 soft, and the exposed wood and small fibers decay very quickly 

 on trees transplanted in the fall. 



Magnolia acuminata^ L. -Cucumber Tree.-Leaves oblong, pointed, 

 green above, but slightly paler beneath, five to ten inches long. 

 Flowers pale-yellowish-green, about three inches broad. Fruit 

 irregular, oblong, containing a few hard, bony, black seeds. 

 A handsome, erect-growing, stately tree, sixty to ninety feet 

 high, with stem two to four feet in diameter. Wood rather 

 soft, of a yellowish-white color, quite durable, and extensively 

 used for pump logs ; wooden bowls, and other household uten- 

 sils are also made from it. Formerly very abundant in West- 

 ern New York and southward along the mountains to Georgia 

 and Kentucky. 



M. cordata, Michx. — ^Yellow Cucumber Tree. — Leaves oval or 

 roundish, seldom cordate as the name implies, four to six 

 inches long, white, downy beneath. Flowers four to six inches 

 broad, petals six to nine, of a lemon-yellow color. Fruit oval 

 or oblong, about three inches long. A rather broad, spreading 

 tree, thirty to forty feet high, quite hardy as far north as New 

 York, but native of the mountains of North Carolina, and 

 southward to Alabama and Georgia. It is not a very popular 

 ornamental tree, and the wood is too soft and light to be of 

 much value. 



M. Fraseri, Walt.— Ear-leaved Magnolia. — Leaves nearly a foot 

 long, spatulate-obovate, smooth on both sides, heart-shaped, 

 and two-eared or auricled at the base ; stalks slender. Flowers 

 about six inches broad, white and fragrant. A tall, rather 



