tiful supply of wood ash, or good dry saw-dust or pounds- 

 lugs of cherry Coffee. 



To form a Nursery, too much care cannot possibly bo 

 taken about digging and draining. A. good site having 

 been chosen, where .a plentiful or at least an adequate, sup- 

 ply of water is available, the whole is well dug up to the 

 depth of a foot. 



All stones, roots and logs are carefully removed and 

 carried to a distance. If the ground is naturally damp and 

 swampy, drains are dug about 3| feet deep at intervals, 

 and care is taken to run a main drain so as to intercept 

 any springs which may emanate from the surrounding high 

 land. One of the first principles of drainage is to intercept', 

 and divert, the source of supply ; and then by a series of 

 secondary arteries to endeavour to free the land of all 

 water held in suspension in excess of requirements. For 

 a soil to carry out, or at least favor, the germination of seed 

 and the growth of a plant, ib must be of a certain tempera- 

 ture. A soil holding excess of water in suspension, either 

 from the presence of too great a proportion of clay, or being 

 mechanically out of condition, is proverbially found to bo 

 "cold" and such in practice is always found injurious. 

 The suns rays are entirely expended in evaporating tho 

 water; the surface is always found to be hard, and frequen- 

 tly to crack, and tho plants are yellow and sickly, and stead- 

 ily refuse to prosper. The " contour- system" of drainage is 

 undoubtedly the best and should always be adopted ; in 

 other words an arc of a circle or even a line in the shape of 

 a horse shoe should be marked out on the superior side of 

 the site chosen, and the drain dug, should be afc least deeper 

 than the small arteries which may be made to empty them- 

 selves into a main channel traced to cut, or sap tho lowest 

 possible level. If terracing has to be carried out a lino of 

 pegs should bo laid clown showing where the superior cut 



