258 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 8. 
' moisture from tlie dryisli soil. lieu you find tlie seeds 
I swelliii'’', find tlierc is si nice lietit tibout them, watei 
I gently, witli water about 80°. If the seed is good, the 
j seed-leaves will soon appear. Keep the plunging mate- 
! rials moist, and place evaporating pans on the heating- 
' medium, and throw moisture on the paths and walls, to 
secure a moist atmosphere; and give a little air, by 
tilting the glass, to prevent the plants bein^ drawn 
weak. -If the roots should appear much at the surlace, 
throw on a little warm tibry peat and charcoal, and 
allow them to remain in the seed-pot until the firstrough 
leaf is as large as a silver I'ourpeuny-bit. Shift into three 
or four-inch pots, and plunge in the same pot, or in another 
or two previously prepared for them. By-and-by give 
more air under the bell-glass or hand-light, and then 
remove it altogether, keeping the plants in a moist at¬ 
mosphere by evaporating ])ans and frequent slight 
syringings. L prefer growing the plants with one stem, 
and not stopping until they are eighteen or twenty-four 
inches in length. Shift the plants again as soon as they 
require it, and keep them, when young, in this warm 
corner. When they fill six or seven-inch pots, transfer them 
to their fruiting pots or boxes; and it these can stand 
over the heating-medium before tlie roofs take hold it 
vvill be an advantage. Take care that all fresh soil is 
heated before using, and that the plants do not suffer 
from dryness, either at the roots or about the leaves. In 
the early part of their growth, and the early months of 
the year, when much fire-heat w'as wanted, in addition 
to slight syringings during the day, 1 made it a point to 
sprinkle them before going to bed at night. Wlien 
stopped, as advised, the plants soon threw out side- 
shoots; and these, when stoi)ped, soon hi-ought plenty 
of fruit. The general treatment afterwards had nothing 
particular. The soil used was chiefly rich heath-soil, 
with a little loam, for winter; heath-soil and fibry-loam, 
with a little cow-dung, for spring; and fibry-loam, leaf- 
mould, and cow-dung, for summer. The best surfacings 
were old mushroom dung and dried cow-dung. 1 hope 
these minutite will meet the case of the inquirers. 
R. Fish. 
WOODS AND FORESTS. 
Thk Nursery Department. 
{Conlinuedfram intge 180.) 
STOCKtNG WITH Trees. — Excepting a few species, | 
which L will specify hereafter, I would not recommend | 
the private nursery-gardener to attempt raising seedlings. . 
One reason is the trouble and exj)ense which must be ; 
incurred in gathering, storing, cleaning, and sowing the 
seeds; and,on the other hand, the e.xtreme cheapness of ^ 
seedlings at the public nurseries. 
'riio best season to procure those seedlings is from the 
middle of October to the end of November. The Scotch 
nurserymen raise, annually, millions of seedlings of 
almost every kind of i'orest-trees; but there are, also, 
man}'’ English nurserymen equally as enterprising and 
successful in that part of their business. 
The ground for the rece])lion of the seedlings being | 
got ready, as described in my last paper, at page 180, 
the seedlings should bo ordered in directly, if not 
already done. I would advise them to be two years old. | 
Such sorts as Larch, Scotch Pine, S|)ruce P'ir, should i 
! never be allowed to stand in the seed-beds more than 
j two years. Oak, Ash, Elm, Beech, and Spanish Chesnut, 
! would remove well the first year, but wmuld take no 
I harm if two years old, though I prefer them at the 
; former age. 
i As soon as they are received they shoidd be laid in 
by the heels, that is, bedded in thickly. This should be 
carefully done, so that the roots are wmll covered. If 
j the roots have become dry during the journey from the 
I nursery, every row as it is laid in should have a good 
soaking of water, which will not only wet the roots, but 
will also close the soil to them, and thus keep them 
moist till they arc planted. 
Plantinfi .—Nurserymen formerly dibbled in their 
seedlings, a very injudicious practice, especially with 
such as had spreading roots. The planter had to gather . 
such roots together and then cram them into the hole 
the dibble made, and thus they were cramped and 
confined, and when taken up to plant in the forest the 
roots were so twisted together that many of them never 
got out of that habit, and were liable to be blown down 
by strong winds. 
The best way is to plant all seedlings with the spade. 
There is then no cramping at the roots, nor tram])ling 
on the ground, as there must be if they are dibbled. 
The way to proceed is as follows;—having fixed upon a 
quarter for some sort of tree first, then stretch a line 
across it at one end, and open a trench across it also, just 
the same as if you were about to dig it. Wheel the 
soil to the other end of the quarter to fill uj) the trench 
at last. Then dig over one spit across the piece, chop- | 
ping it fine and making it quite level and smooth ; 
stretch the line on this row of spits, and dexterously 
chop the soil perpendicularly dow'ii clo.se to the line into 
the trench, exactly in the same way gardeners prepare ; 
the place for an edging of Box, onlv deeper, if necessary. ' 
It will be necessary lor seedling Oak, Chesnut, or any 
large-rooting seedlings, though not so deep for Larches, 
and such like smaller-rooted plants. 
Public nurserymen plant their seedlings out miicli 
thicker, both in the rows and in the distance between ■ 
the rows, than would be advisable for a jn ivate nursery, j 
The object of keeping a ])rivate nursery is to give the 
plants, from the very first, more space to each, and more 
air. The reason for this difiereuce is to cause the 
young trees to grow stouter and form more roots; there¬ 
fore, ])lant them at least six inches apart in the row. 
As soon as the first row is filled dig anotlier row of spits 
of earth up to them, and then tread the soil firmly down ; 
to each plant. Dig two more rows of spits, and level I 
the soil neatly, making the surface very smooth. Then I 
shift the line and set it fifteen inches from the first row'; ' 
chop down the soil again close to the line, plant the ; 
second row' the same as the first, and so proceed till all ^ 
are planted. j 
The season for transplanting extends from November ! 
to the end of iMarch, though it is ahvays better for the 
plants if the planting can be finished in February. If, 
iiowever, the winter should be long and severe, tiie 
planting will, of course, be interrujited, and then the ■ 
planting will necessarily be later in the spring. 
Such ])lauts as have been got in early in the autumn, 
and have been exposed to very severe frost, are liable to 
be thrown out by such frost. Tti that case, as soon as 
the thaw has taken place, and the surface of the ground 
become dry, the whole of the jtlantings should be gone 
over, and all the plants that have been loosened by the 
frost must be trod in again, and the ground pressed 
close to them and made firm. This treading is, at that 
advanced season, of little or no injury to the ground; 
in fact, it helps to keep in the moisture. 
'Che after-management is exceedingly simple. During 
the spring and summer the ground between the rows 
should be kept well hoed. Not a weed should be allow'ed 
to advance beyond the seed-leaf, and the hoeing will keep 
the surface mellow and open, and so prevent it balling 
and cracking during the hottest weather. It would he 
advisable, also, to go over the trees w'ith a sharp knife in 
I hand, and w'herever a plant show's two leading shoots, 
j one of them should l)e pruned off, and also any strong 
' side-shoots should he shortened in. 'There is no pruning 
! so eflectual as that done when tlie trees are in their 
I very infancy of growth. The wounds, then, are quicldy 
