MISCELLANEOUS. 



203 



" them under cover in the night-time, and 

 " only exposing them when the sun shines. 

 " This soon makes the cones expand with a 

 " crackling noise. When any quantity of the 

 " seed is shed, it must be separated from the 

 " cones, otherwise the first dropped seeds 

 " would become too dry before the cones 

 " yielded their whole quantity, which often 

 " takes up a considerable time ; so that we 

 " are sometimes obliged to dry the cones in 

 " kilns, to make them give their contents in 

 " time for sowing — which ought to be done 

 " by the end of April or the beginning of 

 May." 



After all that has been advanced with 

 regard to the varieties of soil, climate, and 

 circumstances being the causes of the declen- 

 sion of the Scotch fir, I confess myself un- 

 convinced, while I find the remnants of the 

 original character flourishing under all those 

 varieties in our own country • and while the 

 broad distinction in the Baltic timber corro- 

 borates, in my opinion, a fundamental dif- 

 ference beyond what such varieties could 

 produce. 



The Quarterly Review of Monteith's Plant- 

 er's Guide laments, in common with myself, 



