64 LAYING OUT THE NURSERY. 



carried or rolled off the ground — and not, as is too com- 

 monly the case, burnt on it — to obtain the best results. 

 The former plan is the most expensive but will be found 

 to pay better in the end, as the surface mould is not 

 injured and the friable nature of the soil is preserved 

 intact, whereas burning by consuming the vegetable 

 matter on the surface renders the soil more tenacious 

 and less suitable to the springing of the seed. The beds 

 should never exceed five feet in breadth, and each bed 

 should be sixteen in length. Between each row of 

 beds shallow channels should be cut along which the 

 water may be conducted to the head of each bed, and in 

 these channels during the dry season water should be 

 allowed to run continuously, penetrating by this means 

 gradually into the land, keeping it cool and moist. 

 During the extreme hot weather the longitudinal division 

 between the beds should consist of earth heaped up to 

 the height of three inches, which will not only render 

 the flooding of the beds more complete, but will also 

 prevent them drying up as rapidly as they otherwise 

 would. But during any storm these divisions should be 

 removed and each converted into a channel to convey 

 away the superfluous rain-water. 



As regards seed there is very little to be said, except 

 that it should, as a matter of importance, be selected 

 from the finest and healthiest trees, and consist only of the 

 ripest and finest berries to be had. These precautions 

 are seldom attended to, however, as it has never been 

 ascertained definitely that plants from carefully selected 

 seeds are any better than from those grown at random. 

 Seeds have been sown from trees both native and im- 

 ported — on some plantations, of all ages and in every 

 kind of way — pulped by hand, pulped by machinery, 

 and not pulped at all, sometimes fresh and as frequently 



