FORESTRY ON THE COUNTRY 



ESTATE 



By Warren H. Miller 



V. TIIK PRIN'ATK NURSERY EOR RAISING STANDARD TREE SEEDLINGS AND HOW TU 



PREPARE AND MANAGE IT. 



WHILE State transplants may 

 1)6 had at $4 a thonsand or 

 thereabouts, and nearly 

 every species of tree used in 

 forestry can be bought in either seedling 

 or transplant from any of the big for- 

 estry companies which make a specialty 

 of planting wholesale, it is nevertheless 

 a fact that many tree lovers would like 

 to own and run a small nursery in which 

 they not only can raise all the standard 

 seedlings they need for forest improve- 

 ment but also can experiment with 

 species that have not so far received 

 any attention except in ornamental tree 

 nurseries, and which therefore would 

 prove an exceedingly expensive pur- 

 chase on a large scale. My good friend 

 and tutor, Prof. Hickel, of Versailles, 

 has for his special hobby ■ an experi- 

 mental nursery which occupies the 

 whole of what would be otherwise a 

 French gentleman's garden, and, if you 

 wish to win your way right to his heart, 

 send him some fertile seeds of any 

 species of tree in any part of the world 

 outside of the tropic zone, and they will 

 be received with purrs of thanksgiving, 

 duly analyzed, weighed, measured and 

 sketched; after which all that are left 

 will be planted and the forthcoming 

 seedlings looked for with the intense 

 interest of the true scientist and raised 

 with all the loving care of the tree 

 enthusiast. His book "Seeds and Seed- 

 lings" is the standard French work on 

 the subject. 



The writer has been fortunate in hav- 

 ing seen in practical operation the lar- 

 gest and most advanced nurseries in 

 France, Germany and our own country. 

 T have watcherl the force under friend 

 I'ettis. State Forester of Xew ^'ork, 

 planting beds of seedlings, digging uj) 

 those that were ready for trans])lanting, 



356 



setting them out in the transplant beds 

 with Prof. Tourney's wonderful semi- 

 automatic transplanting jig which sets 

 out thousands of them in an hour ; have 

 watched the handling of the lattice-and- 

 wire cages which Pettis devised to pro- 

 tect the seedlings beds against sun and 

 birds, and compared it with the primi- 

 tive moss and brush nursery protection 

 of Europe, with their mat screens and 

 rustic frames; have seen plantings of all 

 ages, spacings and forms, from the 

 common hole method to the mound sys- 

 tem of Baron Manteuffel ; and I have 

 planted and raised some thirty-seven 

 varieties of forest trees myself. 



For the owner of a country estate 

 who wants to do his own planting I 

 would say, go ahead slowly at first and 

 accumulate some experience in a small 

 way, more with the idea of making an 

 interesting experiment than anything 

 else. If you need quantities of small 

 transplants at once, you had far Ijetter 

 buy them from a State nursery or a 

 forestry company than wait four years 

 to learn whether you have succeeded or 

 failed with your nursery operations. 

 But, while there are a lot of little prac- 

 tical kinks which have to be learned to 

 make a success of your plantings, there 

 is no reason why one should not start 

 right in on a small scale and learn the 

 art. for there is nothing in it that any 

 sen.silile man can not easilv mana<;^e. 



To begin with location, there are two 

 sites available, of which you can take 

 your choice, depending upon labor and 

 local conditions. The first is the 

 pcf^inicrc volant c or temporary forest 

 nursery located out in the forest itself, 

 a clearing in the forest soil with a 

 northeasterlv exposure, and the second 

 is in the home vegetable garden, with 

 artificial means for shading, etc. The 



