Propagation By Cuttings

Mr. Gordon gives these directions: -

"In August or September, select a young shoot of moderate strength, and cut it off with a piece of the last year's wood attached, forming what is technically termed a heel.

"The leaves at the bottom of the cutting should not be pulled off, but must either be left on entire, or shortened with a sharp knife. When the cutting is made, it should be planted from a half to three-quarters of an inch deep in a pot, filled about one-third with potsherds, on which a layer of turfy peat should be placed, then an inch of good loam, and, on the top of all, a layer of white sand. The pot of cuttings may now be placed in a cold frame, kept close, and shaded when necessary; they may remain in this situation till the end of October, when they should be put in a cold pit for the Winter. Care must be taken at that season, that they do not suffer from frost or damp; but they must on no account have fire heat. About the end of February the pot of cuttings may be removed to a hot bed, a bellglass being placed closely over it; the cuttings will root readily, and many of them will be fit to pot off by the end of June. When first potted off, the young plants should be treated exactly in the same manner as the cuttings are.

"In the case of Junipers and Cypresses, older wood than that used for Pines is necessary, as they have not sufficient strength to omit roots before the winter, and consequently perish during that season, when only callous. If wood of two or three years' growth be taken, it will be found hardy enough to stand the winter, and with the aid of artificial heat, in the spring will root freely." - Gard. Chron.

By Seed

The same excellent authority gives these directions relative to propagating the coniferae from seed.

"The cones should be gathered at the beginning of winter: they should be placed in some cool but dry place, until the end of March, at which time the seeds should be taken out of the cones; which in some cases is difficult, without injuring them, particularly if they are kiln-dried, as the seeds are i easily damaged by fire heat. The cones of some kinds are so hard - of Cocarpa, for example - that it would take weeks on the kiln before they would open. The safest way is to bore a hole through the centre, beginning at the base, or stalk, and afterwards to drive a round piece of hard wood, through the hole, which will split the cones. The seeds may then be removed without injury. If the kinds are new or rare, they should be sown in pans filled with dry sandy loam, and without any mixture, of either peat, leaf mould, or rotten dung; all of which are injurious, and cause the young plants to damp off when they first come up, more especially if it should be damp weather at the time they appear above ground. If the loam is a little stiff, a small portion of sand may be used; but this must be avoided as much as possible, because the more sand there is in the soil the weaker the plants come up.

If they are in a doubtful condition, sow the seeds in pans filled with very dry loam, and place them in some dry situation, out of the reach of damp, they will then not be injured; whereas if they were not placed in dry soil, they would be sure to perish, or if sown in damp soil, the like destruction would attend them.

"When spring advances, place the pans in a gentle, but by no means damp heat; taking care, however, to remove them to a much cooler place, before the young plants are fairly above ground, and afterwards harden them off by degrees, giving them but little water at first; for much depends upon the use made of water, at this period, and the treatment given to them, when in this state, (that is, when the young plant has exhausted the nourishment supplied by the seed, and has to seek subsistence from its own roots;) after which there is little danger of their damping off, except they are over watered. When the plants are fairly up, and a little hardened, they may be potted off singly, into small pots, filled with a mixture of loam and sandy peat. If the loam is rather poor or stiff, a little leaf-mould may be added; for the bad effects of the two latter substances seem only to occur during the time the young plant received its support from the seed.

"When potted, they should be placed in a close pit or frame for a few days, until they recover the effects of the shift, and afterwards air must be freely admitted; but water given rather sparingly at first. They will require little trouble afterwards, but probably may want shifting into larger pots in the autumn, (particularly the strong growing kinds,) as it is injurious to their future growth for their roots to get pot-bound when young. The more rare or tender kinds should not be planted out before the third season; but the commoner ones may be planted out after the first year.

"The common kinds, such as the Scotch fir, larch, spruce, and silver firs, Pinaster, Stone, and Weymouth seeds, and even the Deodar, and Cedar of Lebanon may be sown in the open border with great advantage in the following manner: - select a good fresh loamy soil which is not stiff, but rather sandy, and about the end of March dig and break the surface rather finely; then mark the ground out into beds about four feet wide, leaving an alley of a foot wide between each bed; and on some fine dry day sow the seeds broadcast rather thickly, covering them over from a quarter to half an inch deep, according to the size of the seeds; then smooth the surface by gently beating it with the back of the spade; - (this must only be done if the soil is dry, and rather light.) They will then require no other care except keeping them from weeds, and the attacks of birds, mice, and slugs, which are very destructive to them, when they first make their appearance above ground.

"By placing some small branches thickly over the beds until the young plants have thrown off the old seed-coat, they may be protected from the ravages of birds; if attacked by mice, traps must be set for catching them, as the only safe mode of preventing such pests; and if subject to be eaten by slugs, some wood-ashes should be sown over the beds just as the young plants are making their appearance.

"The seeds of the greater part of the pine tribe come up in about six weeks after sowing in the open border, and the most of them, will be fit for transplanting into nursery-rows the first year after sowing; afterwards they may be treated in the same way as other forest trees." - Gard. Chron.