FROM SEED TO GROVE. 33 



and insufficient food; for every nursery tree that is set 

 out in a hammock grove, one hundred at least are set out 

 on pine land ; therefore, let them start out in life on the 

 kind of food they are to have in after years, then, when 

 they set forth on their life work in our great groves, there 

 is no violent change in their nurture, and thrift and vigor 

 are assured. 



The site for a nursery should be on a slight rise to insure 

 proper drainage without ditching ; hard pan or clay should 

 be not nearer the surface than three feet; the exposure 

 should be southerly, and the site protected as far as pos- 

 sible from high winds. If water can not be easily pro- 

 cured from a neighboring lake or pond, dig a well in the 

 center of the nursery ; it will repay its cost by the number 

 of young trees it will save, for water they must have, and 

 plenty of it, during their first summer in the nursery; 

 after that they are old enough to take care of their own 

 water-supply. 



Here again mulching is of great advantage in preserv- 

 ing the requisite moisture, and although it may, as some 

 demur, bring the roots to the surface, that is just what you 

 want in a nursery, as it facilitates the final digging up of 

 the trees, and fewer roots are broken in the process than 

 would be the case if they were more deeply rooted. 



Lay out the ground for the nursery carefully ; a little 

 extra care now will save a great deal of work and annoy- 

 ance in the future. Run the rows north and south four 

 feet apart, so that the sun may reach the whole surface of 

 the ground ; let the latter be as level as possible and free 

 from trash ; and if you work in a light dressing of well- 

 rotted manure, or muck, or commercial fertilizer, so much 

 the better. The length of the nursery rows should never 

 exceed three hundred feet, as at this distance apart, run- 

 ning at right angles with the rows, there should be road- 



