EARLY CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



353 



flourish greatly in dry, sandy soils ; the first two seern 

 to luxuriate in deep sand. The group Abies generally 

 requires richer land than the others to bring them to 

 perfection. The whole family, however, will do well 

 in the soil indicated above. Where the land is natur- 

 ally of a close, clayey texture, the growth of the 

 young trees will be promoted by the removal of the 

 earth, for each plant, to the extent of six or ten feet in 

 diameter and eighteen inches deep, its place being 

 supplied by earth of a more suitable quality. In re- 

 filling the pit thus made, the new surface should be 

 raised in the form of a hillock, from six to nine inches 

 above the old level ; allowance, besides, being made 

 for subsidence. In retentive ground, these pits should 

 be properly drained, otherwise they will become re- 

 ceptacles of water, to the serious detriment of the 

 young trees. In poor soils, the same method of pitting 

 may be employed for those species which require 

 richer food. Trenching to the depth of eighteen inches 

 is a useful but rather expensive preparation for the 

 pinetum ; where it is adopted, as it may sometimes be 

 by zealous cultivators, care should be taken not to 

 bury the surface-soil under the lower and inferior soil, 

 or subsoil. 



Early Cultivation of the Plants. — All pines 

 should, if possible, be raised from seed. Seedling 

 plants invariably grow most vigorously from the first, 

 and form ultimately the most handsome trees. In the 

 case of new and recently-introduced sorts, seed is often 

 procured with difficulty ; and therefore, propagators 

 have frequently had recourse to grafts and cuttings. 

 Unexpected success has often attended both methods 

 of propagation. "We have already mentioned (p. 145^ 



$ 



