283 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. best; unless we had more commerce of them from our plantations in 

 -^"^r^^ New England, which are preferable to any of them ; there lying rotting 

 at Piscataway a mast of such prodigious dimensions, as nobody will 

 adventure to ship and bring away. All these bear their seeds in conic 

 figures, after an admirable manner and closeness, to protect their winged 

 seeds. The Hemlock-tree, as they call it in New England, is a kind of 

 Spruce. 



All the sorts of Pines are produced from seeds. These seeds are got by laying the cones 

 before a very gentle fire, or rather by exposing thera to the beams of the sun, and often 

 turning them. The seeds of the Larch-tree are particularly difficult to separate from the 

 cone, so that we are generally obliged to be at the expense of slitting the cones into quarters 

 with knives ; an operation both tedious and expensive. The following are the directions 

 given by Mr. Miller for the propagation of tliis genus of plants. 



" The best season for sowing the seeds of Pines is about the end of March ; and when 

 " the seeds are sown, the beds should be covered with nets, otherwise, when the plants 

 " begin to appear, with the husk of the seed on their heads, the birds will pick them off", and 

 " destroy them. 



" Where the quantity of seeds to be sown is not great, it will be a good way to sow 

 " them either in boxes or pots, filled with a light, loamy earth, which may be removed 

 " from one situation to another, according to the season of the year ; but if there is a large 

 " quantity of the seeds, so as to require a good space to receive them, they should be sown 

 " on an east or north-east border, where they may be screened from the sun, whose heat 

 "is very inj urious to these plants at their first appearance above ground. Those seeds 

 " which are sown in pots or boxes, should also be placed in a shady situation, but not 

 " under trees ; and if they are screened from the sun with mats, at the time when the plants 

 " first come up, it will be a good method to preserve thera. 



" Most of the sorts will come up in about six or seven weeks after they are sown ; but 

 " the seeds of the Stone or cultivated Pine, and two or three of the others, whose shells 

 " are very hard, frequently lie in the ground a whole year ; so that when the plants do not 

 " come up the first year, the ground should not be disturbed, but kept clean from weeds, 

 " and the following spring the plants will rise. This frequently happens in dry seasons, 

 " and when they are sown in places a little too much exposed to the sun. Therefore the 

 " surest method is, to soak the seeds in water twenty-four hours before they are sown. 



" When the plants appear, they must be constantly kept clean from weeds ; and in very 

 " dry seasons, if they are now and then gently refreshed with water, it will forward their 

 " growth ; but this must be done with great care and caution ; for if they are hastily watered, 

 " it will wash the tender plants out of the ground, or lay thera down flat, which often rots 

 " their shanks so that unless it be judiciously performed, it will be the best way to give 

 " them no water, but only screen them from the sun. 



" If the plants come up too close, it will be a good method to thin them gently about 

 " the middle of July. The plants which are drawn up may then be planted on other beds. 



