THEIR OWN HOME NURSERIES. 79 



manner of proceeding at Arniston with regard to 

 this operation. 



At Arniston, we have about two acres occupied as 

 nursery ground. In it I raise all our own oaks from 

 the acorn ; and as I am in the habit of getting a 

 regular supply of acorns, I have ready for trans- 

 planting out into the forest grounds about twenty 

 thousand every year successively ; and having this 

 piece of ground occupied as a nursery, I am enabled 

 to raise the oaks in it to a pretty large size pre- 

 vious to planting them out, which is of great ad- 

 vantage to us, as we have very many hares and 

 rabbits to contend with ; and besides, being tall, 

 they are not apt to be choked by long grass and 

 weeds overtopping them. To get such large plants 

 as I am in the habit of using for our home woods, 

 from the common nurseries, would be quite imprac- 

 ticable to any considerable extent. I do not raise 

 all our oaks to a large size previous to planting 

 them out, but only a part, so far as is required for 

 our home woods. This spring (1847) I have planted 

 out in the home plantations six thousand oaks from 

 three to five feet high, with strong fibrous roots ; 

 and, in order to have them strong bushy plants, I 

 give them abundance of room plant from plant in 

 the rows, which is never the case with plants got 

 from the common nurseries. In our nursery ground, 

 I also raise yearly three or four thousand larches 

 to a pretty large size, as also a number of all the 



