2424 ARBORETUM AN» FRUTICE TUM. PART III.

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axis. The scales being then opened with the hand, the seeds readily comeout. The following mode of extracting the seeds is recommended by M. Loise-leur Deslongchamps : — “ As good seeds are never found within 6 or 8 linesof either the base or the summit of cones, the extreme ends of each cone arefirst sawn off; the cones, for this purpose, being put into a vice. After thisa hole may be drilled through the axis, or they may be split in the manneralready recommended. According to M. Loiseleur Deslongchamps, a work-man will prepare 20 cones in an hour; each cone, if somewhat large, will con-tain 100 seeds, and consequently one man may separate 20,000 seeds in aday. The smaller cones contain from .30 to 60 seeds; and the larger from110 to 170 seeds, exclusive of from 10 to 15 per cent of abortive seeds.”(Hist, da Cedre, &c., p. 50.) These abortive seeds are filled with a soft resin-ous matter, instead of a kernel; and they may easily be separated from theperfect seeds, by throwing the whole into water before sowing. The seedsought to be committed to the soil immediately after being taken out of thecones; more especially if the latter have been steeped, because in that casethe seeds have swelled, and might be injured, if left to shrink. If the seedsare sown in March or April, they will come up in a month or six weeks ;and still sooner if they have been steeped. Like the other Abietinae, theyshould be sown in light rich soil, and covered thinly. Sang recommendsthe covering to be J in. deep ; and this depth may be diminished or increased,according to the lightness or heaviness of the soil. The seeds may be eithersown in beds in the open garden, or in large flat pots or boxes; but the latteris the more convenient mode, as it admits of preserving the whole of the rootsin transplanting. The plants rise 3 in. or 4 in. high the first year, with scarcelyany taproots; but these increase afterwards, as the plants advance in size.At the end of the first year, the seedlings may be transplanted into nurserylines, or, what is more convenient, into small pots; and, in commercial nurse-ries, they should every year be shifted into pots a size larger, till they are sold