274 THE NURSERY. [March. 
glasses, and so treat them for two years, without removing them 
out of the seed-box. Then, early in April, transplant them careful- 
ly into separate pots, treating them all this time, and for two or 
three years more, as you do green-house plants; after which, turn 
some of them with the earth out of the pots, and plant them in dry 
warm exposures. 
The Pinus Pinea, or Italian Stone Pine, grows to a considerable 
height, and is cultivated chiefly for its nuts and the beauty of its fo- 
liage. In Italy and the southern parts of Europe, the kernels are 
frequently served up in deserts during the winter season, and are as 
sweet as Almonds, but have a slight flavour of turpentine. The cones 
are generally four or five inches long, and when for some time, ex- 
posed to the sun, they open and drop out the nuts; which, should be 
sown towards the latter end of March, in drills, and covered about 
half or three quarters of an inch deep; when they have had one, or 
two years growth, in these rows, cut their tap-roots as directed for 
walnuts in page 271, and the next season, you may transplant them, 
about the first week in April, either into nursery rows, at greater 
distances, or, where they are to remain. 
The Pinus Czmbra, or Siberian Stone Pine. There is a variety 
of this, that grows in Switzerland, and higher up the Alps than any 
other Pine, and is found on elevations where the Larch will not 
grow. The stones are shorter than those of the Italian Pine, and 
full as thick. The wood is short, having scarcely any grain, and 
very fit for the carver. The peasants of the Tyrol, where this tree 
abounds, make various sorts of carved works with the wood, which 
they dispose of in Switzerland, among the common people, who 
are fond of the resinous smell which it exhales. Both the varieties 
may be cultivated in the same manner, as directed for the Italian 
Stone Pine. 
All the other species and varieties of Pines and Firs, may be suc- 
cessfully raised in the following manner. 
Being provided with good fresh seeds, for on this every thing de- 
pends; prepare for their reception, as early in the sfiring as your 
ground will work free and light, and pulverize finely in the working, 
beds three or four feet wide, of rich, loamy ground, by no means 
subject to burn or become parched with the summer heats; then 
sow the seeds on the surface so thick, as that you may expect, after 
all reasonable allowances for defective seeds, &c. at least, a plant on 
every inch square of the ground, or at the rate of a pound of good 
seed to a bed three feet and a half wide and sixty long. The sowing 
of them so thick, is indispensable, for unless they completely cover 
the surface, they will, if not carefully shaded, be destroyed in their 
infant state, by the summer heat; early sowing is also necessary, 
for they have nothing to apprehend from subsequent frosts, that 
their roots may be established before the heat overtakes them. 
After the seeds are sown, sift over the smaller sized kinds, about a 
quarter of an inch of fine, rich, light mould, and over the larger, 
nearly half an inch; then place over the beds, nets made for that 
purpose, or any old small meshed fishing nets, to keep off the birds; 
