elevated. P. sylvéstris, and some other species, will grow in bleak exposed situations on lofty mountains; and P. Pináster, and others belonging to that section of Pinus, will endure the sea breeze: but, in general, wherever the Abiétinæ are to be exposed, they require to be planted together in masses, so as to shelter one another. None of the species, however, become ornamental when so planted; because they necessarily lose their side branches, on the preservation of which, either wholly or partially, from the ground to the summit of the trees, their characteristic beauty almost entirely depends. Propagation. The only mode of propagating the pine and fir tribe on a large scale is by seeds; but all the species will succeed by layers, by inarching on closely allied kinds, and by herbaceous grafting; and many, if not all, may also be propagated by cuttings. That the Abiétinæ might be propagated by layers and cuttings was known in the time of Evelyn, and was "divulged by him, as a considerable secret." Cook, also, mentions these modes of propagating pines and firs in his Forest Trees, third edition, p. 117.; but they have never till lately been much in use. At present, in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and in the Fulham and other nurseries, upwards of twenty different species of the Abiétinæ are propagated by cuttings with the most perfect success; the plants, in most cases, becoming as handsome trees as if they had been raised from secd. The only exceptions to this result are, where the plant becomes bushy, and does not throw up a very decided leading shoot; but this can always be obtained by pegging the branches down to the ground, and leaving the collar fully exposed; whence one or more vigorous shoots will not fail to be produced, from which a leader may be selected, and all the others kept pegged down for a year or two longer, and afterwards cut away by degrees. We have no doubt that, by this manner of treatment, a plant of the little stunted monstrosity of the spruce fir, called Abies Clanbrasiliana, might be restored to the natural form and magnitude of the species. By Cuttings. The species which strike by cuttings most readily are those belonging to the genera Picea, A'bies, Làrix, and Cèdrus. The cuttings may be taken from the lateral branches, when the current year's shoots are beginning to ripen, and prepared like those of Cape heaths; they should then be planted in sand, and covered with a glass. This being generally done in August or September, the cuttings should be kept in a frame, from which frost is excluded, throughout the winter; and the greater part of them will send up shoots the following May or June, and may be transplanted the succeeding autumn. In the London Horticultural Society's Garden, where Mr. Gordon, the superintendant of the arboretum, is singularly successful in this mode of propagating the pine and fir tribe, the cuttings are generally taken off from the points of the lateral shoots in September; and, being planted in shallow pots of sand, they are placed in the shady part of a frame, without being covered by bell-glasses, till the following spring; when they are put into a very gentle moist heat, and begin growing in April. The kinds which Mr. Gordon has found to strike most easily are, Abies Smithiana, A. Douglàsi, A. Menziesz, Picea Webbiana, and Cèdrus Deodara. After many trials, and a good deal of experience on the subject, Mr. T. M. Lindsay, gardener to the Earl of Caernarvon, at Highclere, says: "I have found the autumn the best time to put in the cuttings; and, though the early spring will answer the purpose, I have not found success so certain at that season. The sort of cuttings I prefer are the smallest I can select, from 2 in. to 3 in. long they should be of the current year's growth, and taken off just as the wood is ripened, say about the beginning or end of October. The cuttings should be cut off close at the commencement of the season's growth; or, if stripped off, and then cut, so much the better. I have found silver, or pure white, sand, with a small portion of peat bog or heath mould mixed with it, answer the purpose better than sand alone. With respect to bottom heat, I have been successful both with and without it; and think that a little of it, CHAP. CXIII. at a certain season, is of service, although by no means when the cuttings are By Grafting. The application of this mode of propagation to the pine and fir tribe was first made by the Baron Tschoudy, probably about the end of the last century; and was practised by him on his estate at Colombey, near Metz, and in the Botanic Garden of that city. It is described at length in various works, of which one of the latest is the Traité Pratique of Delamarre, p. 138. 142.; the essence of which is as follows:-The species intended to be united should be as nearly allied as possible; for, though the pinaster, and the P. Pínea may be grafted on the P. sylvéstris, and the cedar on the larch, yet it is preferable (because the grafts succeed better, and the trees produced are likely to last longer) to graft species which are evergreens on evergreen stocks, and those with the leaves in bundles on stocks not only with the leaves also in bundles, but with the same number of leaves in each bundle. P. Pínea is found to succeed remarkably well on P. marítima, and P. Cémbra on P. Stròbus. The operation of herbaceous grafting is performed in the cleft manner; the slit being made a little deeper than that part of the scion which is to be inserted in it. The time of performing the operation is when the leading shoot of the stock has attained the length of from 8 in. to 12 in., and will break over (without tearing the bark) like a piece of glass, or the most succulent part of a shoot of asparagus fit to gather for the table. The time during which any given species has its leading shoot in a fit state for being broken over in this manner is not more than 15 days; and, as the scions from the species to be grafted are equally tender with the stock, they will not remain longer in a state fit for the operation than about the same period. The graft is always inserted in the leading shoot; the greater number of the side shoots are either removed altogether, or shortened; and the young shoots produced from the stocks during the season are pinched off with the finger and thumb at about half their length. In performing the operation, the first step is to break over the leading shoot with the hand, so as to reduce it to the length of from 4 in. to 6 in.; the leaves are next removed from this remaining portion, with the exception of about an inch at the top, on which they are left for the purpose of drawing up the sap. The scions should have been procured the same day or the evening before, from the extremity of the branches of the kinds to be grafted; and they should be preserved in a vessel of water, and covered with grass or leaves to exclude the sun. need not be above 2 in. in length; the lower half of which should be deprived of its leaves, and cut in the form of a thin wedge, the operator using a very sharp knife. The scion should be rather narrower than the stock, in order that it may be more completely tied into it, which is done by a ligature of matting, or woollen twist. After this is done, the graft is covered with a cornet of paper, slightly tied to the stock, so as to exclude the sun, but yet admit the air. From 10 to 15 days after grafting, the cornet may be taken away; about 15 days later the ligature may be removed; and in six weeks or two months afterwards, the upper part of the stock left with the leaves on may be trimmed off on both sides of the scion, and all the shoots which have been produced on the lower part of the stock removed, so as to throw the 6Y 2 The scions whole of the sap into the scion. A good workman, it is said, will graft 200 or 250 subjects a day, provided he have an assistant to cut the side shoots from the stock, and prepare the scion; leaving him nothing to do but to break off the leading shoot of the stock, make the slit in it, insert the scion, tie the ligature round it, and fix on the paper envelope. The shoot made by the scion is little or nothing for the first year; but the second year it is considerable, and the third a foot or more, and most frequently from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in length. The future shoots, says Delamarre, are truly admirable for their length, their thickness, and their great vigour. The most suitable stocks are plants sown where they are finally to stand; and of 4, 5, or 6 years' growth, the object being to make the graft 3 ft. or 4 ft. from the ground, to avoid the necessity of stooping on the part of the operator. Grafting in this manner has been carried to a great extent by M. De Larminat, in the Forest of Fontainebleau. In the Bon Jardinier for 1826, it is stated that about 10,000 scions of P. Larício had been at that time grafted on P. sylvéstris in that forest; and M. Delamarre informs us, in 1830, that the process had been continued up to that time, at the rate of several thousand trees every year. The mode of grafting practised by M. De Larminat is described by M. Poiteau in the volume of the Bon Jardinier above referred to; and we give it here, because it differs, though in a very slight degree, from that just described. The proper time for grafting pines is when the young shoots have made about three quarters of their length, and are still so herbaceous as to break like a shoot of asparagus. The shoot of the stock is then broken off about 2 in. 2009 b under its terminating bud; the leaves are stripped off from 20 to 24 lines down from the extremity; leaving, however, two pairs of leaves opposite and close to the section of fracture, which leaves are of great importance. The shoot is then split with a very thin knife, between the two pairs of leaves (fig. 2009 a), and to the depth of 2 in.; the scion is then prepared (b); the lower part, being stripped of its leaves to the length of 2 in., is cut, and inserted in the usual manner of cleft-grafting. They may be grafted, also, in the lateral manner (c). The graft is tied with a slip of woollen; and a cap of paper (fig. 2010.) is put over the whole, to protect it from the sun and rain. At the end of 15 days, this cap is removed, and the ligature at the end of a month; at that time, also, the two pairs of leaves (a), which have served as nurses, are removed. The scions of those sorts of pines which make two growths in a season, or, as the technical phrase is, have a second sap, produce a shoot of 5 in. or 6 in. the first year; but those of only one sap, as the Corsican pine, Weymouth pine, &c., merely ripen the wood grown before grafting, and form a strong terminating bud, which in the following year produces a shoot of 15 in. or 2 ft. in length. (Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 200.) This mode of grafting was practised by the Baron Tschoudy, who gave it the name of herbaceous grafting, not only with the pine and fir tribe, but with every other class of ligneous plants, and also with herbaceous vegetables. It is very generally practised by the Paris nurserymen, and especially by M. Soulange-Bodin, though it is, as yet, but little known in British gardens. One of the first trees, that we are aware of, that was grafted in this way in Britain, was an Abies Smithiana, at Hopetoun House, which was grafted on a common spruce in 1826, the same year in which the above account appeared in the Gardener's Magazine. This tree is now (1837) 10 ft. high. By Seed. The number of seeds in a cone varies according to the 2010 species, some containing as many as 300; and the seeds of most species, when allowed to remain in the cone, preserve their vegetative power for several years. The cones are mature, in some species, at the end of the first year, but, in most, not till the end of the second autumn. They ought to be gathered a short time before they are perfectly ripe, in order to prevent the scales from opening, and the seeds from dropping out. In the European Abiétinæ, the seeds begin to drop from the cones which remain on the trees generally in March; for which reason February is a good month to collect them. The cones of Pìnus sylvestris, and of the allied sorts, soon open of themselves, after they have been gathered from the tree, and spread out in the sun; but the cones of P. Pináster, P. Pínea, and the allied sorts, though treated in the same manner, will not open their scales for several months, or even a year. The cones of Cèdrus Libàni will not open till they have been three years or upwards on the trees; and, when they are gathered, it is almost always necessary to steep them in water for 24 hours, and afterwards to expose them before a fire, or to the sun. In Scotland, France, and Germany, the seeds of the Pinus sylvestris and of the Làrix europæ'a, are very commonly separated from the cones by kilndrying, and afterwards thrashing them; but, as the heat of the kiln is sometimes carried to such excess as to destroy the vital principle, it is considered safer to steep the cones before drying, in which case less fire is requisite; or to split them by inserting an iron triangular-pointed instrument, not unlike a shoemaker's awl, into the axis of the cone, at its broad end. The cones are also sometimes broken by passing them through a bone-mill, or between two cylinders; or by putting them into a bark-mill. The cones of the silver and the balm of Gilead firs, and also of the Pinus Stròbus, open of themselves in a dry room, and give out their seeds with less trouble than those of any other species. A Kiln for drying the Cones of the Abiétine is described by Sang, as being constructed in the manner of a common malt-kiln. The joists or beams which support the floor, or surface on which the cones are to be spread, should be about 9 ft. above the hearth on which the fire is placed, and 2 in. apart. “A haircloth is spread over them from side to side of the kiln, and the cones are laid on it to the thickness of 12 in. or 14 in. A gentle fire is then applied, and regularly kept up till the cones become opened. During the time of drying the cones must be frequently turned upon the kiln ; and when the seeds begin to drop out, they must be removed to a dry shed, and sifted till all the seeds which are loose fall out, and be taken from among the cones. The cones are afterwards to be thrashed severely with flails, and sifted as before, and so on till the seeds are taken out as completely as possible." (Kalendar, p. 326.) Various modes of constructing drying-kilns will be found given in our Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture. The most general Time for sowing the Seeds of the Abiétine is in the end of March, or in April. The ground ought to be in good heart, light, and sandy rather than loamy, and prepared as finely as possible. The seeds may be most conveniently sown in beds; and, after being gently beaten down with the back of a spade or a slight roller, they should be covered with light soil or leaf mould to the depth of a sixteenth, an eighth, or, at most, a quarter, of an inch, according to the size of the seeds, and covered with branches of trees or shrubs, fronds of fern, wickerwork hurdles, or netting, to shade the soil from the sun, and protect the seeds from birds. If, indeed, the seeds are gently patted in with the back of the spade, and the beds kept shaded, and of a uniform gentle moisture, no covering at all is necessary. When rare kinds are sown in pots, if the surface of the soil is kept 1 in. below the rim of the pot, the pot may be covered with a pane of glass, and the seeds will come up with certainty and vigour. Traps ought to be set for mice, which are great devourers of the seeds of the Abiétinæ. In very dry weather the beds should be watered in the evenings; but in this case it becomes doubly necessary to shade them in the day time; because in proportion to the rapidity of the germination of the seeds are they liable to be scorched by the sun. The precaution of shading is much less necessary in Scotland, than in England, or on the Continent; and, though it requires to be regularly practised in the Goldworth Nursery, in Surrey, yet we believe it is altogether neglected in the nurseries in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, where more plants of the Scotch pine and Jarch are, we believe, raised, than in any other nurseries in the world. The seeds of the greater part of the Abiétinæ come up in from 30 to 50 days. Those of P. Pinea have been known to come up in 28 days; though some of this species often do not come up till the second year, and seeds of P. Pináster often not till the third year. Great care must be taken, when the seeds are coming through the ground, to raise sufficiently above them the material employed in shading the beds, and also to remove it by degrees. The young plants, in most of the species, grow slowly the first two or three years; but some few, such as the Scotch pine and the larch, grow with comparative rapidity; and all of them grow most rapidly between their fifth and their tenth years. Culture. The pine and fir tribe do not, in general, succeed so well when transplanted as the broad-leaved trees; for which reason, most of the sorts planted for ornament, such as the cedar, stone pine, Weymouth pine, Siberian pine, &c., should always be kept by the nurserymen in pots. The Scotch pine, the larch, the spruce, the silver and balm of Gilead firs, the Corsican pine, and the Weymouth pine, may be transplanted into nursery lines, from the seed-bed, in the second year; and, after remaining one year in these lines, they may be removed to where they are finally to remain. Very few species can be kept with advantage for a longer period in the nursery than 3 years; viz. two in the seed-bed, and one transplanted. The species which may be kept longest, and afterwards transplanted with safety, is the common spruce, on account of the concentration of its roots, and its very numerous fibres. The worst species for transplanting is the pinaster; because it has more of a taproot than any other of the Abiétinæ. In transplanting all the species to where they are finally to remain, attention should be paid not to plant them too deep; and to have a pit sufficiently large to admit of spreading out the roots in every direction. This spreading out of the roots is more especially necessary in the case of plants that have been kept for years in pots, and that have not naturally taproots; for, when it is neglected, the plants are often many years before they become firmly established and grow vigorously. The reason of this is easily explained. The roots of a tree, when confined in a pot, may be compared to the head of a tree which has been for several years confined and clipped into some regular shape, so as to present an exterior surface of spray and leaves, without any one shoot being stronger than another. Hence, when the head of such a tree is left to itself, a smaller or greater number of years will elapse before a leading shoot, or one or two leading shoots, are produced; and till that is the case, and the sap, in consequence, is diverted into main channels, instead of being equally distributed over the surface of the bush, no vigorous growth can take place. In like manner, the matted roots of a plant which has been a long time kept in a pot, when they are not spread out in transplanting, will be some years before they throw out leading or main roots, without which the part of the tree under ground can no more grow vigorously, than the part above ground can grow vigorously without main branches. The proper time for transplanting the Abiétinæ is, as in the case of all other trees, when the sap is in a comparatively dormant state, which is between the end of autumn and the beginning of spring; but, when the plants are of any size, care must be taken to perform the operation |