WOODS AND PLANTATIONS. 359 



cess of the nursery, and should be well done. The depth and distance of 

 the drains must be regulated by the character of the subsoil. The next 

 operation is to have the ground trenched, and this should not be less 

 than two feet in depth. All the stones should be removed, if any, and 

 used in the draining, and in building stone walls round the nursery as 

 a fence, and in making roads and walks. During the operation of 

 trenching, the land should be made as level as possible. 



The fencing should next be attended to. This, as I have stated, may 

 be done with any stones which may come from the land, or with a neat 

 upright paling fence at all events, the fence should be rabbit-proof. A 

 hedge is not a good fence for a nursery, as it is not rabbit or hare proof, 

 and therefore requires another fence along with it to protect the nursery. 

 Where a hedge is desirable, wire netting can be used along the bottom 

 of it as a protection against vermin. I prefer a good stone fence or 

 wall for the protection of nursery grounds ; it keeps out hares and rabbits, 

 and gives a certain amount of shelter. 



Having drained, trenched, and enclosed the nursery-land, it will be 

 necessary to put the whole under a green crop for the first year, and to 

 apply a liberal manuring to the site, after which it will be in a proper 

 condition for the reception of the young trees. 



The cost of the formation of a nursery ten acres in extent will pro- 

 bably stand as follows : 



Draining 10 acres of land, say 4 feet deep and 25 feet apart, 



with pipes, at, say, 6, 10s. per acre, .... 65 



Trenching 10 acres, say 2 feet deep, at 8 per acre, . . 80 



Removing stones at 1 per acre, 10 



Ploughing and levelling land, say 10 



Fencing with stone wall 100 roods of 7 yards, at 12s. per rood, 60 



Forming roads and walks, say 30 



255 



I have not allowed anything for manuring and laying under green 

 crop, as I calculate the value of the crop will pay for the outlay in 

 connection with it. 



In forming the walks, they should be formed in the way described in 

 the chapter on Eoad-making, under " Walks." They will, however, 

 require an edging of some sort. Privet was used in the formation of 

 a large nursery on the Abernethy estate, the property of the Earl of Sea- 

 field, in Inverness-shire. It has answered the purpose very well. In a 

 small nursery formed on the estate of Wass we have used box as edging. 

 The nursery should be made either in the forrn of a square or a paral- 

 lelogram, so as to keep the two opposite sides^ of equal length and parallel 

 to each other ; this enables the plants to be laid more regularly, and to 

 have the whole nursery laid out in squares or parallel breaks. 



