, RAISING PLANTS IN NURSERIES. 20^5 



prepared, though not perhaps quite to the same extent as that 

 of seed beds. 



The area required for nurser}- Hues depends on the species, 

 the age of the seedhngs when pricked out, and the time the}'' 

 are to remain in the nursery ; on an average it may be 

 estimated at 8 to 10 times the area of the seed beds, provided 

 the plants are one year old when pricked out, and four years 

 old when put out into the forest. 



Seedlings should be pricked out while young. In the tropics 

 the proper age is sometimes only a few weeks ; in temperate 

 Europe generally one or two years, according to the nature of 

 the species and the locality. 



When the object is to produce large and strong plants, or a 

 full and bushy root system, they may be pricked out a second 

 or even a third time, after an interval each time of one, two 

 or more years. 



• Plants may be pricked out at any time, provided it is done 

 carefull,y, rapidly, and when the soil is fairly moist. In 

 temperate Europe the best time for extensive operations is 

 early spring. Moist weather is desirable during the operation, 

 else the plants may have to be watered. The lifting and 

 protection of the plants during transit have been dealt with 

 above (pages 183 and 188). 



The distance between the nursery lines and between the 

 plants in the lines depends on the size of the plants, their 

 more or less rapid development, and the time which they are 

 to remain in the lines. Ordinary two-year-old seedlings of 

 Scotch pine and spruce, which are to remain for two years in 

 the lines, may be placed from 3 to 6 inches apart in the lines, 

 with a distance of 8 to 12 inches between the lines. Larch 

 plants must be placed somewhat further apart, while for oak 

 the distances are still greater. 



Brown, in " The Forester," recommends the following 

 distances : — 



One- or two-year-old seedlings of oak, ash, elm, and beech, 

 4 inches apart in the lines, the latter being 24 inches apart. 



