NURSERY PRACTICE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 85 



ment in depth. The application of too great a quantity of fertilizer 

 is not to be recommended. Aside from the expense it is likely to 

 be injurious. Observations indicate that highly fertilized plants 

 are more susceptible to heat; they do not lignify so readily in the 

 fall, and that they are subject to frost danger. 



PRACTICE AT FOREST SERVICE NURSERIES. 



At the majority of Forest Service nurseries fertilizing has not 

 been accorded much attention because they have been quite recently 

 established, and there has not been opportunity to study this ques- 

 tion. At the Bessey Nursery horse manure is invariably mixed with 

 sand and is not used until it has composted thus for a year, during 

 which time it is turned two or three times and watered as often as 

 necessary to prevent heating. It is applied at the rate of from 50 

 to 120 tons per acre and a crop of cowpeas or soy beans is pro- 

 duced on the area before it is again devoted to nursery purposes. 

 It has been found here that soy beans produce more and larger 

 root nodules than cowpeas. The application of fresh horse manure 

 to the seedbeds just before sowing has proved unsatisfactory, be- 

 cause the undecomposed material made the soil so loose that it dried 

 out very rapidly, resulting in loss of seedlings from drought. 



At the Fort Bayard Nursery horse manure is applied at the rate 

 of from 25 to 30 tons per acre, and then frijoles (Mexican beans) 

 are grown for one season on the same area. These have not been 

 plowed under. Crops of frijoles and nursery stock are rotated 

 yearly. 



At the Monument Nursery, after the trees are removed in the 

 spring, the area is given a liberal application of well-rotted barn- 

 yard manure, which is plowed under to a depth of about 10 inches, 

 and it is then sowed to field peas at the rate of about 75 pounds per 

 acre. When the peas begin to blossom they are plowed under and 

 a second crop sown to be plowed under just before the vines freeze. 

 On the seed-bed area this operation is repeated the following year, 

 but transplant areas are ready for use after one year's treatment. 



At the Pilgrim Creek Nursery sheep manure is applied just before 

 spading the beds at the rate of 4| cubic feet to 144 square feet of 

 seed-bed surface and 45 cubic feet to 700 square feet of transplant-bed 

 surface. The amount for transplant beds is to be increased, as it 

 is not considered sufficient. 



At the Garden City Nursery manure and cowpeas were used in 

 rotation with the nursery crops. Sand was also added to the heavy 

 soil and improved it considerably. 



Because of the great increase in damping-off which has resulted 

 in some cases from the use of organic fertilizers, especially dried 



