

Seed-beds and Nurseries 187 



reckoning, as being too near the sun's rays. 

 The chief drawback to this proceeding is one's 

 inability to watch the nuts individually 

 owing to their being so close together for the 

 depredations of ground vermin, such as white 

 ants, beetles, rats, and squirrels. At all times 

 pathways at every 10 or 15 ft. should be left 

 between the nuts, not only to enable the men 

 to get in among them, but also to see more 

 closely how they are getting on, and if 

 inclined to be attacked by pests. Some people 

 favour the getting ready of the whole planta- 

 tion at once and planting the nuts directly into 

 the holes about 30 ft. apart, or 48 to the 

 acre which have been prepared for them. 

 This is going to the other extreme, for super- 

 vision in such a case is well-nigh impossible, 

 Where wild pigs and porcupines abound, such 

 a method, known as planting at stake, is very 

 much to be deprecated, unless the owner is 

 prepared to go to the heavy expense of erecting 

 a game-proof fence of sufficient strength and 

 closeness right around the whole planted area. 

 For a while scrub and boughs, obtained during 

 the clearing operations, would suffice, but such 

 a makeshift would last for less than a year, 

 when it would have become useless through 

 decay (possibly leaving any quantity of pests 

 behind) and the fence would finally have to be 

 put up. We may therefore assume that for all 

 exigencies the now generally adopted method 

 of establishing proper nurseries with the nuts 



