148 MANAGEMENT OF NURSERIES. 



mencement of a nursery. It should be ploughed twice or 

 more until made perfectly mellow, which should be done the 

 previous autumn if for planting in the spring. Or if turned 

 over in the spring with the largest double plough to a depth 

 of a foot or more, by means of three yoke of oxen, it will gen- 

 erally be found in a fine condition. 



If the soil is not rich enough without manuring, it is better 

 to apply the manure a year or two beforehand to other crops, 

 or else to apply old rotted or composted manure. An appli- 

 cation of wood-ashes at the rate of forty or fifty bushels per 

 acre, if fresh, or a hundred or two, if leached, is often useful 

 and sometimes eminently so. These ashes are well applied if 

 mixed with the compost at the rate of one-tenth or one-twen- 

 tieth of its bulk. 



Laying Out. — Nurseries should be laid out so as to admit 

 of horse cultivation. For this purpose strips of land twelve 

 feet wide should be left on opposite sides of the nursery, at 

 the ends of the rows, for the horse to turn about upon. Cross 

 alleys should be left at convenient distances for carting out 

 the trees and for the registry of the different kinds in the 

 rows. The length of the rows between these alleys will de- 

 pend somewhat upon the size of the nursery, varying from 

 one hundred to three hundred feet. 



Shelter. — In selecting a site for a nursery, the sweep of 

 prevailing winds should be avoided; as in very windy places 

 the young shoots from buds and grafts are apt to be blown or 

 broken off, and the young trees bent or inclined. If neces- 

 sary, belts or screens of evergreens may afford shelter from 

 strong winds, not being placed, however, near enough to 

 shade the trees, nor to injure their g^rowth by the extension of 

 their roots. On the other hand, low and sheltered valleys, 

 being more liable to sharp night-frosts, are objectionable for 

 the site of a nursery. 



Fences and other barri^jrs which cause large snow-drifts 

 and a consequent breaking down of the young trees, should be 

 avoided as much as practicable. 



Seeds and Stocks. — The successful growth of the young 

 nursery-trees depends essentially on good, vigorous, and 

 healthy stocks. Seeds from healthy and vigorous trees, 

 should, therefore, be always selected. It is common, in rais- 



