1864] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
51 
ricty, deserves general cultivation. The Con¬ 
cord is not only hardy, but when fully ripe, 
sweet and highly flavored. It is a buttery grape, 
more solid than the Creveling, and, like the 
Diana, more compact in its clusters, and a bet¬ 
ter keeper. The Louisa and Clinton we con¬ 
sider no improvement on the Isabella, and hard¬ 
ly equal. They are, with us, but little if any 
earlier. The Diana is a vigorous grower and a 
prolific bearer. Being a seedling of the Cataw¬ 
ba, it has some of its characteristics—but it is 
some weeks earlier and has a peculiar honey 
sweetness. It is preferred by many to any other 
variety, and though a third smaller than the 
Catawba, it is still larger than the Delaware. 
The Delaware is deemed a slow grower, al¬ 
though we have grown a vine the past season 
with two branches each about twenty feet long, 
it being the second season after planting, having 
been cut back to two buds. Proper planting 
with drainage, good soil, bone dust, etc., with 
occasional applications of soap suds, did the 
work, while another vine, not thus treated, did 
not grow six feet.” 
Forest Trees from Seed — Evergreens. 
It is a matter of surprise that in a new coun¬ 
try like ours, there should be any scarcity of 
trees. We do not refer to the prairie regions, 
which are naturally destitute of forests, but to 
the longer settled and originally well-wooded 
portions,where wood for timber and fuel are now 
both scarce and dear. The settler in a forest 
country, from the hard work it costs him to 
make his clearing, learns to look upon a tree 
;omewliat as his natural enemy, and the groves 
are cleared off without any reference to the fu¬ 
ture wants of himself or his successors. The 
evils of thus destroying the forests, without 
making any provision for their renewal, is being 
severely felt, not only in the lack of the materi¬ 
al they furnish, but in the drying up of streams, 
and in the change produced in the climate of 
the regions thus denuded. From the many que¬ 
ries we receive about the growing of trees from 
the seed, not only from the prairie States, but 
from the older parts of the country, it is evident 
that there is an awakening to the subject of 
arboriculture—and doubtless before many years, 
the planting of forests will become as common 
here as it is in Europe. The planting of tim¬ 
ber trees becomes a matter of absolute necessi¬ 
ty upon the prairies, and in the Eastern States 
there are large tracts which can not be tilled, 
but which, if covered with trees, would yield a 
good return. As a general thing, the trees 
must be started from the seed, as natural seed¬ 
lings usually grow under conditions unfavora¬ 
ble to the formation of good roots. While 
some kinds may be raised in nurseries with as 
much ease and in the same manner as fruit trees, 
and afterward be set out in the plantation, oth¬ 
ers can not be transplanted, and the seed must 
be sown where the tree is to stand. 
Even the hardiest forest trees are generally 
very delicate when young, and need shelter 
both from cold winds and from the sun. In 
the natural state, the seedlings are nursed by 
the undergrowth of shrubs, and in artificial 
planting, the rapidly growing and the hardier 
sorts are sometimes raised to act as nurses to 
the slow growing kinds, or the seed is sown so 
thickly that the young plants shelter one anoth¬ 
er, the superfluous ones being removed as the 
growth progresses. It is probable that the in¬ 
troduction of the White Willow will be of bene¬ 
fit to tree culture at the West, as this grows rap¬ 
idly from cuttings, and may often serve to pro¬ 
tect the early growth of more valuable kinds. 
The seeds of the various forest trees require 
such different treatment, that no general rule can 
be given, and it will be necessary to regard the 
peculiarities of each sort to ensure success. 
While some kinds retain their vitality for a long 
time, others must not be allowed to become dry, 
or they will never germinate. The seed of some 
maples and the elm ripen in the spring, and 
the plants are produced the same year, while 
the seeds of many other kinds often lie a whole 
year in the ground before they come up. 
The evergreens comprise some of our most 
useful trees, being not only valuable for their 
timber and the shelter they afford, but for the 
cheer their foliage imparts to the winter land¬ 
scape. The White (or Weymouth), Pitch, and 
Scotch Pines, the Norway and Black Spruce, 
Hemlock, European Larch, (not evergreen) Ar¬ 
bor Vitse and Red Cedar, are hardy, and the best 
known and most useful of the conifers , while 
several species now cultivated for ornament 
only, will probably in time become common. 
The seeds of most of those mentioned are 
borne in cones, the scales of which open and 
allow them to fall out. The seeds are small and 
have a thin wing which causes them to be dis¬ 
tributed to a considerable distance by the winds. 
The cones should be gathered before they open 
and scatter the seeds; some of them open by 
simply placing them in a dry room, while oth¬ 
ers, like the Scotch Pine, open with difficulty. 
It has been recommended to soak these in wa¬ 
ter, and then dry them by artificial heat. A 
cultivator of our acquaintance breaks them up 
by boring through the cone lengthwise with a 
small bit; this breaks up the central stem, and 
the scales fall apart without injury to the seeds. 
The seeds can be purchased at the large seed 
stores; they should be of the previous season’s 
growth, bright looking, plump and heavy. 
In some cases the seed is scattered broadcast, 
trusting to the natural growth of shrubs to af¬ 
ford the requisite protection to the young plants. 
This method is very wasteful of seed, as much 
is destroyed by animals, and but very few can 
be expected to fall in spots entirely favorable to 
germination. It is much better to sow in a seed 
bed where all needed care can be given to the 
young plants. The soil of the bed should be 
fine, light, and rich, and the sowing should be 
in rows to facilitate weeding. The covering of 
earth should be very slight, £ to | of an inch 
being sufficient. To prevent drying, the surface 
of the bed should have a covering of leaves or 
light hay, which is to be removed as soon as the 
plants show themselves. A coating of saw¬ 
dust is also used for this purpose, and has the 
advantage that it need not be removed. The 
young plants need shading, which is done by 
means of leafy brush stuck thickly over the bed, 
or made into a kind of screen or hedge upon the 
south side of it. A far better way is to make 
the beds in frames like those of a hot-bed, and 
shade them with gratings made of lath placed 
about h an inch apart. These will afford light 
and air, while they prevent scorching by the 
sun, and the frames break the force of cold 
winds. The young plants are kept in the beds 
for two years, giving the soil each winter a cov¬ 
ering of two or three inches of leaves. At two 
years old the plants are set in good soil, in rows 
3 feet apart, and 1 foot in the row, where they 
remain two years, when they may be put out in 
plantations, or receive another transplanting in 
the nursery, at a greater distance in the rows. 
The seeds of the Red Cedar differ fi-om the 
others we have mentioned, in being enclosed 
in little berry-like cones, the fleshy scales of 
which do not open. These seeds remain in the 
ground a year without germinating. They may 
be kept mixed with earth and buried for a year, 
and then sown. The treatment of other forest 
trees must be deferred to another article. 
Native Broad-leaved Evergreens. 
By the term evergreen, most persons mean 
the narrow-leaved trees and shrubs of the pine 
family, forgetting that there are a number of 
broad-leaved shrubs which keep their foliage 
all winter, and are properly included with the 
evergreens. In looking through the New-York 
markets about the holidays, we were struck with 
the enormous quantities of evergreens on sale 
for decorative purposes. They are brought in 
wagon-loads, and even vessel-loads, to meet the 
great demand. Among these were a number of 
our native broad-leaved shrubs which are so 
prized for in-door decorations, and we won¬ 
dered why they were so seldom used to orna¬ 
ment grounds and gardens. They are beautiful 
for their foliage all the year round, and some of 
them are valuable for their flowers. They grow 
naturally in shaded locations, and when planted 
they should have a partial shelter from the hot 
sun. First among these we place the American 
Holly (Ilex opaca). The English Holly, so 
thoroughly associated with the Christmas fes¬ 
tivities of the old country, is not adapted to our 
climate, but our native one is generally hardy, 
and nearly as fine. It is found as far north as 
Massachusetts, and is very abundant in New- 
Jersey. It is usually a small neat tree, though 
it is sometimes found 30 or 40 feet high. The 
leaves are thick, dark green and shining, and 
have several sharp spiny teeth on each side. 
The flowers are not showy, but the bright red 
berries which succeed them are very brilliant 
when contrasted with the dark green of the 
leaves. Being a very slow grower, the Holly in 
cultivation ranks as a shrub rather than as a 
tree, and as it bears cutting well, it makes an 
excellent hedge, the only objection being the 
time it requires to reach a suitable size. Plants 
may be had at the nurseries, or they may be 
raised from the seed, which usually remains in 
the ground for a year before germinating. Ac¬ 
cording to Downing they start very readily if 
scalded with boiling water before sowing. 
The Ink Berry is a pretty shrub belonging to 
the same genus. It is the Ilex glaber, and grows 
naturally in sheltered places with much the 
same range as the Holly. It is from two to 
eight feet high, with very slender branches, and 
with narrow, dark green, polished leaves. It 
bears jet-black berries, whence its popular 
name. The foliage is much prized by bouquet 
makers, and large quantities are brought to this 
city for sale to them. The common Laurel, 
Kalmia latifolia , is another evergreen very com¬ 
mon from Canada to Florida, and though sel¬ 
dom seen in cultivation with us, yet from its fine 
foliage and large clusters of white or rose- 
colored flowers, it is one of the most prized 
shrubs in English gardens. It is a little diffi¬ 
cult to transplant from its native localities, but 
is so fine a shrub that it is worth all the trouble 
it costs. It is found in both wet and dry situa¬ 
tions, and in transplanting, those should be se¬ 
lected from the natural locality the nearest like 
that in which they are to be placed, and be re¬ 
moved in the spring, with a good ball of earth 
at the root. They may be raised from the seed, 
and small plants may be had a-t most of the 
principal nurseries, at a moderate price. 
