CHAPTER VII. 

 NURSERY PRACTICE. 



Nursery. This term is applied to a plot of land used 

 for raising plants that are intended for planting elsewhere 

 for their final growth. 



Soil and Cultivation. The best soil for a general nur- 

 sery is a deep, rich, reasonably level, retentive upland. 

 It is customary to grow most of the nursery crops in rows, 

 so that they may be readily cultivated. The land should 

 be ploughed deeply when the crop is planted and the sur- 

 face soil kept loose and fine during all the early part of 

 the growing season, or until about the middle of July. 

 If the land that has to be used for a nursery is rather 

 shallow, it should be gradually deepened by ploughing 

 from year to year, and if inclined to dry out the addition 

 of large quantities of organic matter, together with constant 

 cultivation, will do much to remedy these defects. 



The cultivation of a nursery or young forest plantation, 

 provided the latter is planted in rows, should be much 

 the same as for garden crops and consists in keeping the 

 land stirred to the depth of three inches, thus giving a 

 dust blanket, which will protect from drought. After 

 the first of August much cultivation is likely to encourage 

 a late autumn growth, which should be avoided; but 

 a moderate quantity of buckwheat or oats may be sown 

 then and be allowed to grow the remainder of the season, 

 to serve as a winter protection to hold snows and pre- 

 vent the heaving out of the young seedlings by frost. 



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