134 Management of Nurseries. 



perfectly mellow, which should be done the previous autumn if for 

 planting in the spring. Or if turned over in the spring with the 

 largest double Michigan plough to a depth of a foot or more, by 

 means of three yoke of oxen, it will generally be found in a fine 

 condition. 



If the soil is not rich enough without manuring, it is better to 

 apply the manure a year or two beforehand to other crops, or else 

 to apply old rotted or composted manure. An application of wood- 

 ashes at the rate of forty or fifty bushels per acre, if fresh, or a hun- 

 dred or two, if leached, is often useful and sometimes eminently so. 

 These ashes are well applied if mixed with the compost at the rate of 

 one-tenth or one-twentieth of its bulk. 



Laying Out. Nurseries should be laid out so as to admit of 

 horse cultivation. For this purpose strips of land twelve feet wide 

 should be left on opposite sides of the nursery, at the ends of the 

 rows, for the horse to turn about upon. Cross alleys should be left 

 at convenient distances for carting out the trees and for the registry 

 of the different kinds in the rows. The length of the rows between 

 these alleys will depend somewhat upon the size of the nursery, 

 varying from one hundred to three hundred feet. 



Shelter. In selecting a site for a nursery, the sweep of prevailing 

 winds should be avoided ; as in very windy places the young shoots 

 from buds and grafts are apt to be blown or broken off, and the 

 young trees bent or inclined. If necessary, belts or screens of ever- 

 greens may afford shelter from strong winds, not being placed, how- 

 ever, near enough to shade the trees, nor to injure their growth by 

 the extension of their roots. On the other hand, low and sheltered 

 valleys, being more liable to sharp night frosts, are objectionable for 

 the site of a nursery. 



Fences and other barriers which cause large snow-drifts and a 

 consequent breaking down of the young trees, should be avoided as 

 much as practicable. 



Seeds and Stocks. The successful growth of the young nursery 

 trees depends essentially on good, vigorous, and healthy stocks. 

 Seeds from healthy and vigorous trees should, therefore, be always 

 selected. It is common, in raising apple-seedlings, to procure 

 pomace from cider-mills ; wash out the seeds and plant promis- 

 cuously. If the strongest seedlings only, thus obtained, are selected 

 for setting out, good trees would be the result ; but it would be 

 better to obtain apples for this purpose from trees of known hardi- 

 ness and fine growth. The same remarks will apply to the selection 

 of pear-seed and cherry, plum, and peach stones. 



