The Elder. 



and March), little or big, stuck into the ground, in wliicli 

 ground, whetlier dry or wet (if not absolutely in water), the 

 cutting is sure to become a tree, and that too in a very 

 little time. The Elder likes moist ground best ; and, like 

 other trees, it likes good ground better than bad, but it 

 will grow in any ground. 



224. The SEED of the Elder is the little berry that it is 

 well known to bear in such great abundance. This seed, 

 if you mean to sow it, should be gathered when dead ripe; 

 should be put into sand, in the manner directed in the case 

 of the Cherry ; should be kept in that state until March, 

 and then sowed on beds, in the manner directed for the 

 Ash, only that the seed should not be covered with earth 

 more than an inch deep. The plants will come up in the 

 latter end of May, and will be a foot high in the fall of the 

 year. The after-treatment is to be just the same as that 

 directed for the Ash, until the plants be finally put out; 

 and as it is not here a question of plantations, there is no 

 occasion for speaking of distances. If you wish to have 

 them to grow tall and to have a clear stem, you must cut 

 them down and prune them, as directed in paragraphs 127 

 and 149. 



225. I cannot conclude this article without expressing my 

 surprise, that no one appears ever to have cultivated the 

 Elder from seed. The reason why we always see them squat, 

 bushy-headed things, is, that they are always raised from 

 cuttings, that being the easiest way ; but we should always 

 remember, that a cutting is a branch of a tree; and that a 

 branch it must always continue, and never can become a 

 tree, with a regular butt and trunk. The reason why 

 Apple trees are invariably bushy-headed, is, that they are 

 branches of trees. The stem, indeed, may have come from 



