Canadian Forestry Magazine, August-September, 1920. 



401 



generally preferable, for it permits of 

 proper drainage. 



'ihe most desirable aspect for a nur- 

 sery depends upon the latitude and alti- 

 tude. Eastern and southern aspects are 

 best in cold regions, while northern and 

 western are best in temperate regions. 

 Latitude and altitude are, as a rule, of 

 more importance than slope and aspect. 

 The Mont Alto nursery opens up at least 

 two weeks, and in some cases three 

 weeks, earlier in spring than the nurser- 

 ies located in the northern part of the 

 Stale. It is able to supply the planting 

 stock when it is really needed for suc- 

 cessful spring planting, while the plant- 

 ing material from the nurseries in the 

 extreme northern part of the State be- 

 comes available invariably too late to get 

 the best planting results. Hence, the 

 Pennsylvania experience indicates that 

 nurseries should be so located that they 

 will be in a condition to yield their stock 

 for early spring planting. 



The Supply of Water 



An adequate water supply is an abso- 

 lute essential for the production of vigor- 

 ous and healthy nursery stock. If 

 possible, a nursery should be so located 

 that a gravity water system may be in- 

 stalled whicli will supply sufficient 

 water for all nursery purposes. The in- 

 troduction of watering systems into all 

 the large nurseries operated by the 

 Pennsylvania Department of Forestry 

 has made a striking improvement on the 

 nursery output. Small seedlings may 

 exist in the nursery beds during the 

 drought periods of summer months 

 without an artificial sprinkling with 

 water, but they cannot thrive and be- 

 come vigorous under such unfavorable 

 conditions. A satisfactory water system 

 was installed in the Clearfield nursery in 

 1915 at a total cost of $1, 306.19. 



The two factors wliich liavc been 

 overlooked in the location of some exist- 

 ing nurseries are accessibility and labor 

 su])ply. These factors are not so evi- 

 dent at the time a nursery is established 

 and may not become apparent until after 

 the nursery has been so enlargeti and 

 developed that its handling requires 

 many men and much material. These 

 arc, however, very important tietcrmin 

 ing factors, and since the successful 



operation of a nursery implies much 

 work intermittently during the spring 

 and summer months they should be lo- 

 cated near or amidst an ample labor 

 supply. Three of the large nurseries 

 now operated by the Penns}"lvania De- 

 partment of Forestry may be abandoned 

 because of their inaccesibility and inade- 

 quate labor supply. Tlans are now in 

 progress to estaljlish forest tree nurser- 

 ies near penal and other state institu- 

 tions, which will be able to supply all 

 necessary labor whenever it is needed. 

 Cost of Operating a Nursery. 

 Many factors influence the cost of 

 operating a nurser>'. Eut in spite of all 

 these factors the one striking lact about 

 nursery production is the low cost at 

 which forest tree seedlings and trans- 

 plants may be grown. ihe Clearlield 

 nursery, located on a high plateau about 

 10 miles from the city of Clearlield, has 

 been handled on an unusually economic 

 basis. The total cost of all operations 

 by years is shown in the tollowing 

 table: Trees Shiped. 



1911 $ 150.55 



1912 192.91 



1913 426.94 16,000 



1914 756.02 265,000 



1915 1,685.16 476,000 



1916 2,195.14 1,314,515 



1917 1,987.10 1,830.550 



1918 2,124.42 3.30o,54O 

 (Oct. 1, 1919) 1919 1,670,43 1.952.91U 

 Installation of 



W ater System 



(1914-1915) 1,306.19 



Total $12,500.92 9,lo2,015 



The foregoing table shows that the 

 average cost of production from 1911 to 

 1919 was $1.3o per thousand trees. This 

 figure is low, but it includes all expendi- 

 tures, even the transportation of the 

 nursery stock to shipping points, and 

 may be attributed to extremely favorable 

 nursery production conditions. It is. 

 however, essential to mention that most 

 of tlie nursery stock consisted of two- 

 year-old seedlings, wliich have to date 

 given satisfactory and economic results. 

 ISurscry Stock G radius^. 

 Forest tree seedlings and transplants, 

 wiicn lifted from the nursery beils show 

 a wide variation in size, appearance. 



