Plantatioyis and Home Nurseries Competition, 1912. 215 



Seeds and Nursery Work. — In recent years a considerable 

 amount of scientific work has been done in various parts of the 

 world, with the view of proving what has long been suspected, 

 that within the limits of any particular species of tree there 

 may be many varieties of strains. Such varieties may be 

 distinguished from each other by morphological characters, 

 such as the shape and length of the leaves, the arrangement 

 of the branches, and the straightness of the stem ; or the 

 distinction may be physiological, taking the form of more 

 rapid growth, greater resistance to disease, and greater vigour. 

 No sharp line exists between these two types of varieties, but 

 it is convenient to class them in this way. In illustration one 

 may take the Scots pine {Pinifs silvefitris), a species widely 

 distributed throughout Europe and Asia. Seed of this species 

 has l^een collected at different altitudes and in different latitudes, 

 and from trees of robust growth with fine stems, as well as from 

 comparatively dwarfed individuals with twisted and knotty 

 boles : and it has been found that when such seed is sowed in 

 contiguous beds at any particular centre the resultant seedlings 

 differ greatly in character. At the end of, say, ten years certain 

 batches of seedlings may show perfectly satisfactory growth and 

 have attained to a height of perhaps 15 to 20 feet, while other 

 lots of seedlings may have remained stunted and misshapen, 

 and be no more than a few feet in height, holding out no 

 promise of ever forming satisfactory stems. In some cases it 

 may even be found that the seedlings have been unable to 

 survive at all, all having been cleared off by disease, or some 

 other influence, in their earliest years. Enough work has not 

 been done to enable British landowners and foresters to come 

 to a decision with regard to the best place from which to 

 obtain supplies of seed, whether of the Scots pine or of any 

 other species ; but the more the matter is looked into the 

 more does its importance impress intelligent planters. We 

 had an excellent example of this condition of things in the 

 case of six-year-old larches, growing on the estate of Ainsty. 

 These larches had l)een obtained from two different sources, 

 and whereas the one lot were gi'owing vigorously and proving 

 in every respect perfectly satisfactory, the other lot, of the 

 same age and growing alongside, consisted of comparatively 

 dwarfed individuals which gave little promise of yielding 

 satisfactory results. 



Another consideration that should receive careful attention 

 in connection with nursery work is the selection of a site that 

 is not specially liable to spring frosts. The month of May 

 preceding our inspection contained several nights when the 

 thermometer fell l)elow the freezing point, and the results were 

 only too obvious, not only in nurseries but throughout young 



