216 Plantations and Home Nurseries Competition, 1912. 



plantations generally. The situation most liable to spring frosts 

 is a damp hollow, and in selecting a site for a nursery an open 

 breezy situation should be selected. Of course, something can 

 be done to protect nursery stock against frost, apart altogether 

 from the influence of the situation. The seed beds are often 

 sheltered by boughs, matting, or screens, while plant beds can 

 receive considerable protection from rows of hardwood standards, 

 4 to 8 feet in height, that are being specially reared for avenue, 

 park, and hedgerow purposes. 



If a nursery is too large to have its seed beds protected in 

 the foregoing manner, or standard trees are not required in 

 such abundance, a good plan is to plant rows of Lombardy 

 poplar at intervals on the north and west sides of the seed 

 flats, and after these poplars have grown to the desired height 

 for secure protection of the seedlings against frost, they can be 

 "topped " every two years to keep them in check. The sides 

 also can be readily trimmed, and as they are of conical growth 

 they do not spread their branches unduly over the adjoining 

 ground. 



Another point that requires emphasising in regard to 

 nursery treatment is the desirability of fully utilising the 

 ground, and this is secured by seeing that the plants stand 

 sufficiently close together in the beds. In one nursery that 

 we visited the rows, and the interspacing between the plants 

 in the rows, were so wide that the young trees hardly touched 

 each other, and although strong, bushy plants were being pro- 

 duced in this way, the output was probably well under 

 one-half of what the nursery was capal)le of furnishing. We 

 are well aware that an equally serious mistake can be made 

 by overcrowding the nursery beds, but those in charge of a 

 nursei-y should attempt to strike the happy mean between the 

 two extremes. 



It is unnecessary to dwell upon the importance of keeping 

 down weeds and, by frequent hoeing, preserving a fine tilth or 

 " crumb " on the surface, as these matters are generally well 

 understood and given effect to. 



In connection with the planting of outlying areas, it is well 

 worth the attention of foresters to give consideration to the 

 establishment of a temporary nursery for the supply of the 

 requisite plants. If the area contains a piece of ground which 

 can be ploughed, or, in some other way, easily brought into a 

 condition to serve for the lining out of one-year-old seedlings, 

 considerable expense will later be saved in the matter of carriage 

 and carting. Moreover, greater success will attend the trans- 

 ference of plants from a niirsery close to the area to l)e planted 

 than will be the case where the trees have to be brought by 

 rail or even carted for some miles. When the trees are lifted 



