226 WOMEN AND FORESTRY 



young trees and in what respects it is suitable for 

 women. The description of the w^ork required will, I 

 venture to think, provide the answer to the question 

 of its entire suitability to women. In fact, in many 

 ways women will be able to do some of it better than 

 men and with more care than boys. 



We will consider briefly the rearing of the young 

 tree from the seed until it is planted out to form the 

 plantation. 



The area of the nursery is divided up into divisions 

 which consist of seed beds and areas or breaks in 

 which the older plants are placed until they have 

 reached the age at which they are to be removed into 

 the woods. These areas are managed on a rotation, 

 one or more in their turn lying fallow for a year, or 

 more usually having a crop such as potatoes taken 

 off them at this period. In any year an inspection of 

 such a nursery in the summer will show a certain 

 number of seed beds in which the young seedling trees 

 are being raised. The breaks will contain three- or four- 

 year-old trees. In the winter and early spring when 

 the heaviest nursery work is in progress certain areas 

 will require to be deep trenched. This work is not 

 beyond the powers of a robust woman, but for our 

 purpose here we may leave aside the question as to 

 whether it should be done by the man or woman. 



During suitable weather in winter the breaks con- 

 taining the four-year-old plants, as also some of the 

 three-year-old plants, will provide a good deal of work. 

 The plants are dug up, sorted out in sizes and done up 

 into bundles and packed for transport to the spots at 

 which they are to be planted out. In a commercial 



