The Elm. 



however, was the fact; and, instead of twenty thousand 

 plants, I got perhaps three. 



235. I sowed my seeds with the following preparation, 

 and in the following manner : — First, owing to my im- 

 patience to ascertain their soundness, I soaked them and 

 mixed them with earth, in the manner that I have described 

 with regard to the Birch seeds, in paragraph 158. When 

 I saw that the seeds were grown very plump, I sowed them 

 on beds, on which I first sifted some earth, and, when the 

 seeds were sown, I covered them with finely-sifted earth, 

 about an inch deep. If they had been sown in the spring, 

 they would have attained the height of twelve or fifteen 

 inches by the month of October; and, as it was, they gene- 

 rally attained the height of two or three inches, and had 

 long and beautiful rough leaves upon them when the frost 

 overtook them in November. This, therefore, is the way 

 in which I recommend the seeds of the Elm to be sown. 



236. As to the manner of preserving the seeds; when 

 gathered, which, as we have seen, is in the month of JNlay, 

 they should be made as dry as paper, by being placed for 

 several successive days in the sun. When they are per- 

 fectly dry, put them into bags, not more than two or three 

 gallons in each, and hang them up in a perfectly dry place. 

 There they will safely hang till the next month of April, 

 and then they ought to be sown in the manner I sowed 

 mine. If you soak the seed, you ought to water the beds, 

 gently, the next day, and, whether you soak them or not, 

 you ought to shade the beds with mats laid on them until 

 the seeds begin to come up ; that is to say, if the weather 

 be very dry. A gentle watering in the evening, and shad- 

 ing in the heat of the day, will soon bring them up, whether 

 soaked or not. 



