Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1874 — Forst Trees from Seed. [ARTICLE]

Forst Trees from Seed.

Tree planting has become in some parts of the country a subject of great importance. Trees for timber, fuel, shade and shelter are needed in all prairie countries, and while we appreciate the great necessity for tree planting, and would urge everyone, East or West, to consider whether timber is not the best crop he can put upon parts of his land, we mave not had so much to say about raising trees from seed as perhaps our friends think they have a right to expect. We would not lead our readers into experiments that if not expensive are likely to be fruitless. How many persons opening up a new farm on the prairie can find time to take proper care of a vegetable or a flower garden? Yet the raising of trees from seed demands as much or more care than do vegetables or flowers, and our hardy white pine and other evergreens require in their early years much greater attention than a delicate flower. Premising that we advise no one to undertake to grow trees from seed unless he is quite able to give them as much care as the same number of lettuces or cabbages, we give a few condensed notes which will answer many inquiries. Evergreens we cannot advise the ordinary farmer to undertake to raise from seed ;4hey require so much care in shading and otherwise, and small plants are sold by those who make a business of growing them at such low rates, that we are sure that ninety-nine in one hundred Will find it much more satisfactory in the end to purchase. We therefore confine our remarks to deciduous trees. Tree Seeds that Must Be Sown as Soon as Ripe.—Soft or red and silver maple, elm, and red birch. If kept exposed even for a few days after they are gathered their vitality will be destroyed. These seeds are not generally kept by seedsmen, though some take orders in advance to be filled when the seeds ripen. Those who wish to sow seeds of these should arrange beforehand with some friend to gather them, or dealer to supply them, and be prepared to sow the day they are received. The plants come up at once, and make nice young trees by fall. Tree Seeds To Be Sown in Place—that is, the; seed to be sown where the tree is to stand—include the different hickories, the butternut, and black walnut. The seeds are collected in fall, made into heaps, and covered with sods, over which are thrown several inches of earth. In the spring the nuts are sown in place, putting in two or three near together, and it all start remove all but one. Trees that Must Be Transplanted when Small.—The chestnut, beech, and oaks of all kinds are to be sown in a seed-bed and transplanted the first or second autumn. The nuts are to be kept during winter, Jttixei wilLffUeastan equal hulk of sand, jn a cool place where they will not get too dry. Seeds of Trees that May Be Sown in Fall.—Ash of various species, liquidambar, tulip tree, cucumber and other magnolias. These may also be sown in spring if properly kept through the winter in sand. Seeds Better Sown in Spring, But They Should Be Carefully Kept Through the Winter in Sand.—Maples of all kinds, including the ash-leaf or box elder, and excepting the silver and soft; birehes, except the red, basswood, Kentucky coffee tree, ailanthus, catalpa, paulownia. Seeds Needing Preparation Before Sowing in Spring.—Osage orange, scald and keep warm and moist until it sprouts; buttonball, soak; honey locust and common or black locust, scald. Trees Grown from Cuttings.—All willows and poplars trom branches an inch and less in diameter; ailanthus and paulownia from cuttings of the root. Seeding trees require just as careful thinning and weeding as a crop of carrots. If they suffer from the heat of the sun stick brush with the leaves on all over the bed sufficiently thick to give a proper shade, or use a screen of laths. The leading tree seeds are kept by most seedmen.— American Agriculturist. A man at Bridgeport, Conn., has named his two canaries “ Wheeler” and “Wilson,” because neither of them is a “ Singer.” The only historical parallel for this case is offered by the old farmej; who called his rooster Robinson, because Robinson Crusoe. : ■ ■■■ Johnson’s Anodyne Liniment may beadmin Istered to children with perfect success, in cases of croup, whooping-cough, influenza and almost any of the diseases to which they axe liable. A H. Andrews & Co., largest manufacturer# School and Church Furniture in the .country, removed to 213 Wabaab-av., Chicago. The Northwestern Horse-Nail Co,'s “ Fiuirtwd ” Nail la the best in the world.

Don’t Tamper with a Cough.— Perhaps in the whole category of diseases to which humanity la susceptible, the cough is most neglected In Its early stage. A simple cough—generally regarded as a temporary affliction Is unpleasant and nothing more; but to those who have paid dearly for experience, It la the signal for attack for the most fearful of all diseases—Consumption. A cough will lead to consumption—if not chocked —so sure as the rivulet leads to the river, yet it Is an easy enemy to thwart, If met by the proper remedy. Allen' t Lwng Balsam Is the great cough remedy of the age, and has earned its reputation by merit alone. Sold by all good druggists. The Great Family Medicine.—Dr. Wllhoft’s Anti-Periodic or Fever and Ague Tonic!' No case of incurable Chills has yet presented itself where this scientific and safe medicine has been employed. No case has been found so obstinate as to resist its prompt and masterly action. No man has been so reduced by malarial influences but with its use has come up perfectly reconstructed. No pills or purgative required with this medicine. Wheelock, Finlay & Co., Proprietors, New Orleans. For SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS. A Word in Season.— Health is a blessing which comparatively few enjoy in all its fullness. Those endowed by nature with robust frames and vigorous consti tutions r should be careful not to trifle with them. When we enter the seasons of periodic fevers the increased heat of the sun developes a miasma which pervades the air. The evil is inextinguishable; our duty to guard against it is imperative! Fortunately for those whose lot is cast in low marshy districts or new clearings, nature provides a cure and preventive. Dr. Walker’s California Vinegar Bitters are endowed with rare prophylactic or disease-preventing powers, and, as “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” should be taken in the full vigor of health, so as to fortify the system against the assault of summer disease , and thus secure, by their life-giving, strengthening, restorative and antiseptic virtues, a defense against atmospheric poison. 38