EXCELSIOR 
41 I’nrk Row, New York, 
82 Buffalo St., Rochester. 
NEW YORK CITY AND ROCHESTER, N, Y, 
gs.oo PER YEAR. 
Single No., Eight Cents, 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 25,1871 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by D. D. T. MoouE, In the ofHee of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
needless repetitions of the same lessons in 
our columns. 
To grow evergreens successfully from 9ecd 
requires somo little preparation in the way 
of soil, frames, or shady borders. It should 
be borne in mind by every one who may 
wish to make the attempt nt growing ever¬ 
greens from seed, that shade for the young 
plants is, in thiscouutry and climate, indis¬ 
pensable. In other words, the seedlings 
must be grown in a situation where they can 
be completely under the control of the cul¬ 
tivator so far as it relates to amount of light, 
heat and moisture, required. 
It is utterly useless for a man to attempt 
growing them in the open ground as lie 
docs ordinary field crops or vegetables, for 
he will not succeed more than once in a 
hundred limes; but if ho will take the 
trouble to build cheap board frames, in form 
like a common hot-bed, and to these make 
lath or cloth covers, ho will have a very 
complete structure for the purpose required. 
The frames should be three and a-lialf to 
four feet wide, and ns long ns desired. A 
foot, and a-lialf high at the hack and six to 
ton inches in front, will answer the purpose; 
and if the frames are placed in a protected 
situation, so much the better. The soil in 
them should be a sandy loam, or old leaf 
mold, or well rotted sods; in fact, almost 
anything that is light anti porous, but it 
should not be made of pure manure, or with 
any considerable amount of this material. 
The frames and beds should he prepared 
early in spring—the earlier the better—and 
as soon as ready sow the seed, either broad¬ 
cast or in drills, covering a quarter of an 
inch deep with flue, sifted soil. After sow¬ 
ing, give a liberal application, of water, and 
put on the screens, or they may be laid aside 
until the plants begin to appear. It will 
be necessary to keep the soil in tho beds 
constantly moist, but not constantly soaked, 
with water; a little at a lime and often is 
the rule for*small and delicate seeds which 
are only slightly covered. 
The critical time in the life of a seedling 
evergreen is when it first appears above the 
surface, and of a size and form shown in 
Fig. 1. A few hours’ » 
exposure to the hot ) 
sun or a heavy, dash- / 
ing rain will surely de- \ 
stroy it, and the culti- \ 
vator must he con¬ 
stantly on his guard si 
against such a catas- 1 
troplie. 
Partial shade and I 
just sufficient moisture 
to keep them growing, 
arc requisites not to y V A 
be dispensed with. ' f( I \ \ j 
Constant watchfulness if If \ I 
at this time, on tho * J \ 
part of the cultivator, Pxocre l. 
is necessary, after which less attention is re¬ 
quired, although they must not be neglected 
during the entire first season. In autumn 
tlic beds may lie protected with evergreen 
boughs or straw mats, if in a location where 
the winter is likely to be very cold. If the 
plants have made a vigorous growth, they 
may be transplanted into nursery rows the 
following spring; if not, allow them to re¬ 
main in the seed bed for two seasons; but 
the screens will not be required the second. 
Arbarintltae 
THE ROYAL OAK—(Quercus Robur.) 
There is no other tree which occupies so 
prominent a place in English literature as 
the Royal Oak. Poets and prose writers 
have vied with each other in adoration of 
this tree, until it has become inseparably in¬ 
terwoven into the history of all nations 
Speaking the English language. From the 
time the old Druids assembled beneath the 
branches of some giant of the forest to per¬ 
form their heathenish rites, down to the day 
the last ship slipped from its ways into the 
Clyde, the oak has been the emblem of all 
that was sturdy, brave and permanent. 
‘Whatever there is of good belonging to this 
tree, whether in history or in practical use¬ 
fulness, we have, or should have, an interest 
in it, its well as our trans-Atlantic cousins. 
We have, it is true, many native oaks 
equal, if not superior, to the Royal, but this 
is no good reason why wo should affect, to 
despise or even neglect this ancient tree, 
which was so highly valued by our British 
forefathers. It is not to be expected that it 
will ever be as extensively cultivated here as 
our native species; but a few specimens 
might, with propriety, be planted here and 
there about our grounds, even for no other 
purpose than to refresh our memory, and 
bring to mind many events in English his¬ 
tory which noone using the language should 
ever wish to forget. 
The English or Royal Oak thrives ad¬ 
mirably in our climate, grows rapidly, and 
soon becomes a noble ornamental and use¬ 
ful tree. It thrives better in a rather heavy, 
moist soil than in one that is light and dry. 
The accompanying illustration was made* 
from a specimen tree almost twenty-live 
years old, and thirty or more feet in bight. 
The young trees of this oak can be obtained 
of most of our nurserymen, or imported 
seedlings procured of English nurserymen at 
a very small price, especially if ordered in 
quantities. 
VfiLV\S\ 
TlilU KiSTGLilSiT ROYAL OA.lv 
arc ory or sound wood strips, and proceed upon 
ally the other side of the tree with our lever to 
g. 2 turn the top in a reverse position. We then 
ave cut away any small, deep-running roots, 
low draw through our rope, arrange it as on the 
>wn opposite side, and the men then lift it either 
on to a wagon or carry it, if its place of re¬ 
moval is near by, to its future location. 
When transported any distance, we wrap 
the roots carefully in wet cloths. 
The tree having arrived at its destination, 
and the hole for planting being, of course, 
prepared, we endeavor to so lift it and set it 
into the hole in its true upright position, and 
that its own weight will so settle it in the 
soft earth as to cause it to stand of itself, 
upright. One man now uses the shovel, and 
another stepping into Lhe hole packs with 
his hand, his fingers outstretched (not with 
his fist — or fingers doubled up,) the earth 
carefully and closely beneath the entire tree 
all around ; then the roots are taken down, 
and each carefully laid out as in its natural 
position, and the earth packed with the 
hand, the operator avoiding, so far as lie 
can, any pressure by his feet. 
As soon as the planter can work at the 
roots, by laying flat upon his face he gets out 
of the hole and continues the placing of the 
roots and the packing of the earth round and 
round the tree, bringing each root to its 
natural position until the whole iscompleted. 
Next a mulch of half decayed straw, if the 
work is done in early spring, or of new 
: mown grass if performed in May, is spread 
r ‘ w11 over the surface, one foot or so beyond the 
v 1 ' loosened earth; the branches are untied, and 
,s the tree has need of no further care. 
SEEDLING- EVERGREENS. 
TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 
Will some one inform me how to grow 
evergreens from Beed—such as Arbor Vitro, 
Hemlock Spruce and Norway Spruce? I 
have failed several times to make seed grow. 
—II. Leach. 
We have often answered the above ques- 
BY F. R. ELLIOTT, 
I ah inquired of by a correspondent from 
Illinois as to the best manner or way of 
moving large evergreen trees, my corres¬ 
pondent saying that the advice he had re¬ 
ceived was that, "before proceeding to such 
work, the tree should have been the year 
previously dug around, and all its large 
roots cut off, causing it, thereby, to make a 
hall or mass of fibrous roots; but if it had 
not been so managed, then he should dig 
around the tree, leaving an open trench, and 
the roots and earth in the form of a ball 
expand, until't becomes frozen, solid, when 
it could or should be moved on a sled or 
rolled to its future position.” 
I give my practice, which, if carefully and 
faithfully followed by my correspondent and 
others, will, I think, result with them, as 
with me, in success. Let us take the Nor¬ 
way to delineate, although the same is prac¬ 
ticable with all varieties. Our first opera¬ 
tion ia to get a rope, and, passing it around 
the tree below the lower branches, gradually 
raise and fasten them at about six feet from 
the ground, as shown in Fig. 1. Our next 
course is to take away all the turf, if there is 
any over the surface roots, working away 
the dirt with the hand in place of any imple¬ 
ment, as the roots appear. 
A\ e work in this way out from the tree the 
full extent of its branches, and then we com¬ 
mence digginc a trenoh fMlf I Itlflr an\r 
TO MAKE AN APPLE ORCHARD BEAR. 
Wiiat method should I adopt to make my 
apple orchard, twelve years ot age, thrifty 
trees, and good size, bear fruit i Partial 
crops, thus far, have only been obtained. 
Trees wore manured with bones, and have 
grown rapidly.— New Subscriber. 
Treks when growing rapidly, are usually 
less productive. When they have reached 
suitable age and size, if kept well cultivated, 
they will produce, when the season is favor¬ 
able. 
Figure 2. 
tions; but as every succeeding volume of the 
Rural New-Yorker lias thousands of new 
readers, we are often obliged to retrace our 
steps, and go over old and well-trodden paths 
for their special benefit. AVe mention this 
fact for the consideration of old subscribers, 
who may sometimes think that there are 
A Novel Assertion !—At least ten papers bgfore 
us assert thut the supply of timber is constantly 
decreasing; and the demand for it increasing;. 
- YtY- 
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