NURSERY WORK. 



55 



Fig. 2. 



8. The quantity of seed required may vary (according to the ascer- 

 tained gertmnative percentage) from f to 1 Ib. for Scots Pine and Spruce, 

 about or over 1| Ib. for Larch, and about 2 Ib. for Silver Fir per 100 sq. 

 ft. of seed-bed for broadcast sowing ; but this will of course vary accord- 

 ing to the quality of the seed. This usually gives per 100 sq. ft. of 

 seed-bed from 5-6000 2-year seedlings of Larch and 8-10,000 of Scots Pine 

 fit to line out. Drill-sowing by hand takes longer than broadcast sowing, 

 but weeding is easier and cheaper, less seed is needed per 100 sq. ft. of 

 seed-bed, and the seedlings are less likely to be lifted by frost. 



9. If drill-sown thickly, Conifer 1-year seedlings have to be transplanted, 

 but if thinly drilled or sown broadcast, they can stand 2 years before 

 being put in the nursery lines at distances suited to the plants and the 

 time they have to stand there (lines usually 12 in. apart). 



But Douglas Fir and Menzies Spruce often do best when 

 planted out after the 1- or 2-year-old seedlings have 

 stood for only one year in the lines. Transplanting 

 for 1 or 2 years develops strong, sturdy, well-rooted 

 plants, suitable for establishing themselves on rough 

 ground with poor soil. In transplanting, it is best to 

 range seedlings in beds according to their size, so that 

 all on one bed may develop about equally and be ready 

 for planting out at the same time. And when trans- 

 planting, long straggling roots should be pruned back 

 (fig. 2), as likely to get doubled and deformed in the 

 trench. Thus the bigger class of seedlings may perhaps 

 be ready for putting out as 2-year-l transplants, while 

 the smaller may only be ready as 2-year-2 (or else 

 2-year-2 and 2-year-3 in Scotland). These weaklings 

 are very useful for filling blanks in young plantations. 



10. Where extra strong plants are specially wanted, 



they can best be obtained by transplanting annually for 2 or 3 times, to 

 stimulate growth of rootlets near the stem (this being a natural effort to 

 speedily overcome the physiological disturbance caused by loss of rootlets 

 and root-hairs at the extremities when transplanting). 



11. The work of transplanting seedlings into nursery lines costs from 

 3d. to 5d. per 1000, but weeding costs a good deal from time to time, and 

 so transplants usually cost from 6s. to 8s. per 1000, according to the^price 

 of the seed and its quality, and the amount of weeding needed. 



12. In every permanent nursery a spare plot should be kept in hand 

 for a year to rest and improve it. This can either be manured and put 

 under a crop of potatoes, turnips, vegetables (or mustard, if there is an^ 

 danger from wire- worms), or else lucerne may be grown and dug in during 

 autumn to decompose into a mild green-manure. On a sandy soil lupin 



Pruning shears^ 



