50 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK r. 4. When your seedlings have stood thus till June, bestow a slight 

 •^^y^^ digging upon them, and scatter a little mungy half-rotten litter, fern, 

 bean-haume, or old leaves among them, to preserve the roots from 

 scorching, and to entertain the moisture ; and then in JNIarch following 



SPRUCE FIR. 



In the beginning of April, having got the seeds out of the cones, which are very long, 

 let them be sown in a North border ; for when they come up, by being constantly shaded 

 all the summer in such a situation, they will shoot much stronger, and be better to prick 

 out the spring following in the nursery. In about six or seven weeks after sowing, the 

 young plants will appear, when they should be screened with the usual care from the birds, 

 which otherwise would soon destroy them. By the autumn, many of these young plants, 

 if they are kept clean from weeds, and watered in dry weather, will have shot two or three 

 inches ; and in spring they should be carefully removed out of their seed-beds, taking care 

 that the fibres be not broken off or injured. Being thus cautiously taken up, they should 

 be as carefully planted in the nursery-ground, at the distance of one foot asunder each 

 way. Here they may continue, with keeping them free from weeds, for two or three 

 years, when they should be set out in the places where they are designed to remain. 



SILVER FIR. 



These trees are raised by sowing the seeds in a shady border, about the beginning 

 of April. They will readily come up if the seeds are good : but as this is not often the 

 case, they should be sown very close, otherwise we may depend on having a very thin 

 crop. The succeeding summer the plants will require no trouble, except keeping them 

 clean from weeds ; and the spring after that, they should be pricked out in beds at about 

 four inches distance from each other. There they may stand for two years, when they 

 should be planted in the nursery, in rows a foot asunder every way. The year, or at 

 farthest two years, after having been set in the nursery, they should be planted out for 

 good ; for if they are continued longer, many of them will die when planted out, and 

 those which grow, frequently lose their leading-shoot, or meet with so ^ great a check 

 as to be hardly able to get into a growing state for several years. 



STRAWBERRY TREE. 



The Arbutus, or Strawberry Tree, is best propagated by seeds ; therefore when the 

 fruit is ripe it should be gathered, and mixed with dry sand to preserve the seeds till the 

 time of sowing, "fhese seeds should be sown in pots, which should be plunged into an old 

 bed of Tanner's bark that has lost its heat, covering the bed with glasses, &c. to keep out 

 the frost. This should be done in December, and as the spring advances, if the pots are 

 refreshed with water, the plants will come up in the beginning of April, when they should be 

 frequently, but sparingly, watered, and constantly kept clean from weeds. As the summer 

 advances, if the plants are shaded in the heat of the day, it will greatly promote their 

 growth; but in warm weather they must be exposed all night to receive the dew, 



