PROPAGATION IN THE NUESERY. 5 5 



plants, unless, indeed, planted into the most congenial 

 soils, and under favourable conditions, such as arable 

 land in sheltered places. 



Much has been spoken and written about the ad- 

 vantages of a home nursery as compared with purchas- 

 ing plants from a public one. Now this is scarcely a 

 debatable subject, for the circumstances which favour 

 either are decided and distinct. If the public nursery 

 is near and soil suitable, other things being equal, there 

 can be no difference between the plants grown there 

 and in a private nursery. For plants of a large size 

 that require special care and culture, which nurserymen 

 cannot usually bestow, the home nursery is preferable ; 

 but I find no special advantages that two or three year 

 old plants possess from being grown in a home nursery 

 instead of a public one. An argument in favour of the 

 home nursery for all plants is used by those who 

 believe in what is termed acclimatising (which I do 

 not). I believe in the hardening of ^plants, and properly 

 ripening in the ground, and that confinement or over 

 sheltering, &c., is injurious, but some who advocate ac- 

 climatising do not after all believe much more than that. 



One thing in a nursery, whether public or private, 

 should be to have it in a good exposure, and upon soil 

 rather light than heavy, and with a good deal of sand 

 in it. It should slope gently towards the south or west, 

 or be on nearly level ground. The nursery must be hare 

 and rabbit proof, which can best be done either by a 

 stone dyke, or by enclosing it with wire netting 5 feet 

 high and ij inch mesh, and ISTo. 16 or 17 wne gauge. 



