CHAPTER IV 



THE HOME NURSERY: ITS FORMATION AND 

 MANAGEMENT 



IN the course of my experience on large estates where 

 planting has been extensively engaged in, few things have 

 been more particularly impressed upon me than the impor- 

 tance of having a well-managed and well-stocked home 

 nursery, where the propagating and raising of trees and 

 shrubs required for forest and ornamental planting may be 

 taken in hand. The numerous advantages of a home nur- 

 sery, especially where planting is extensively carried out, 

 are now so well known and appreciated by every proprietor 

 of large estates that comment on this subject seems almost 

 unnecessary. 



Where ornamental planting, the formation of woods and 

 plantations, game coverts, or hedging is performed on an 

 extensive scale, the convenience of a home nursery cannot 

 be over- valued, the plants being at hand when wanted, of 

 the size and in the quantity required, and known to be well 

 rooted, sturdy, and free from disease. 



The advantages in these cases are too well known to 

 require comment, and plants, more especially those of a 

 large size, sent from even a short distance by cither road 

 or rail, cannot be expected to succeed equally with those 

 raised and planted on the same day. The extra soil, or 

 ball, with which large plants can be removed for a short 

 distance is also much in their favour, but it is next to impos- 

 sible to retain this where packing and transit have ta be 

 resorted to. 



It is well known that too sudden a change from rich, 

 well-sheltered nursery borders to bare, exposed hillsides 



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