STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 51 



thing of all is to have the right idea at the start. To comprehend 

 the situation in the beginning of any enterprise is a mighty lever, 

 and to fail to comprehend the situation is a miglity drawback. 

 Therefore, to know what the public requires, what kind of trees, 

 how grown and in what quantities, is essential to success. The next 

 thing is to select the right kind of soil. A light sand and a heavy 

 clay must be rejected as unsuitable. Doubtless the very best kind 

 of soil to be selected would be a rich, sandy loam, inclining to cla}' ; 

 but the grand trouble with all such soils is that, generally, they are 

 too low down. A strong, gravelly loam is, on the whole, the best. 

 The location of the nursery is also an important matter ; it should 

 never be on low, flat land, nor on the eastern slope of a hill where 

 the snow lies deep ; for deep, drifting snows are always damaging. 

 The most suitable location is the top of a ridge or moderately high 

 elevation, protected on the north and west by a forest, if possible ; 

 if there be no forest, plant a row of evergreens or build a board 

 fence, for it is absolutely necessary to protect the young trees in 

 some way. 



Drainage. 

 Without drainage, either natural or artificial, it is impossible to 

 raise good, sound, healthy trees. A certain amount of heat and 

 moisture is indispensable to the growtii of all plants, but if there be 

 too much moisture, there will be a consequent deficiency of heat 

 and the plants will suffer. We all know that where land is well 

 di'ained, either naturally or artificially, it can be worked much 

 earlier in the spring for any crop, and that the chances for a success- 

 ful crop are every way better from its superior condition. The same 

 is equally true when the land is devoted to raising nursery stock. 



Transplanting. 

 It will be impossible, in a paper like this — already lengthy — to 

 discuss this part of the subject properly. It is enough to know that 

 the best nurserymen always transplant their trees, and they invaria- 

 bly do this when the trees are young. The work can be done more 

 rapidly then and with less mutilation to the roots. The advantages 

 of transplanting are, straight lines for cultivation, proper distance 

 apart, more room in the earth for the roots, more breadth in the air 

 for the tops, with better branches and less pruning. The troul)le 

 has been that too many of our Maine nurserymen have either not 



