RECLAEVONG LAND. 135 



the soil has a tendency to be dry in summer, a judicious 

 watering of the grounds is necessary ; but this is no obstacle 

 to the establishment of a seedling nursery. Too flat ground, 

 that is liable to retain excessive moisture under or upon 

 the surface, or land that has too great a slope and is conse- 

 quently liable to be washed by heavy rains or thawing 

 snows, is objectionable, although such lands may have a 

 favorable exposure. 



An exposure that is best suited to a fruit orchard would 

 probably bo good for a pine or other nursery. Pines sel- 

 dom suffer from frost, and an easterly exposure is better, 

 with shelter from the west. The rays of the morning sun 

 shining through the cooling atmosphere, and modified by the 

 influence of dew on soil and plants, are always of benefit ; 

 but, on the other hand, the heat of our dry summer is hurt- 

 ful during the long afternoons. 



Ground where there will be the least weeds will be best 

 for a nursery, and requires simple care. When a bit of good 

 new woodland can be chosen, and cleared for this purpose, 

 it will prove better, on the same principle that virgin land 

 has advantages for all purposes of cultivation, largely on 

 account of the greater quantity of humus that it contains. 



Nurseries should not be established on too poor land, and 

 not on land where any fresh manure, nor even where well- 

 decayed manure, is freshly put on. 



Ground game is injurious, and the nursery should be pro- 

 tected where such are liable to occur. 



Before it is time to commence sowing, the seeds should 

 be tested ; and the following seems a simple method, which 

 must be tried a sufficient length of time before planting to 

 allow of replacing the seeds should they prove poor : — 



"Fill a flower-pot, unglazed and of moderate size, with 

 fine earth ; sow the seeds, which must be counted, and cover 

 them to the depth of a quarter of an inch ; place the pot in 

 an earthenware basin filled with water to a hcijrht sufficient 

 to maintain moisture throughout the depth of the earth in 

 which the seed lies, and notethe results." 



If germination is slow and irregular, the seed is evidently 

 too old. 



Where seventy per cent, have sprouted, the result may 



