TREE NURSERIES. 
In 1911, the Board of Control assigned ior the use of the 
Commission for tree nursery purposes the City property lying 
to the west and north of West Point and Hi!mwood Cemeteries, 
bounded on the west by Forest Lake drain, and upon the north 
by the property owned by the Virginia Railway & Power Co. 
This tract was mostly filled land, having formerly been the low- 
land through which flowed one of the branches of Smith’s Creek. 
This lowland had been filled with all sorts of: refuse from the 
City streets, and was a veritable jungle. 
Also there was assigned to the Commission in Forest Lawn 
Cemetery a tract of woodland, six or seven acres, which it was 
necessary to clear off and grub out to make it available for tree 
planting. With its smau Iorce at oda times, the Commission 
cleared the city tract, which it has named “West Point Nursery,” 
and now has available several acres which it is utilizing for nur- 
sery purposes. The balance of the property to the north ex- 
tending to the line of the Virginia Railway & Power Co.’s proper- 
ty, as shown by the city plats and records, is not available at the 
present time, being covered by the tracks, buildings, ties, poles, 
etc., of the Railway, who decline to remove the same, 
though requested so to do. Probably a tengthy law suit will be 
required tg make available this city property assigned for the 
use of the Commission, the matter now being in the hands of the 
city attorney. 
From the experience of like Commission in other cities, and 
from its own experience, the Commission found that it was a 
matter of economy, and almost a necessity, to have a place to 
which could be removed trees from the street requiring special 
treatment, and also as reducing to a minimum the loss of trees 
planted upon the streets of the city. It was found that trees 
received from nurseries located at a distance not possessing an 
abundance of fibrous roots, as is desired for trees planted upon 
the streets, were much more subject to loss, particularly in a dry 
season, than similar trees taken up from our own nursery and 
transplanted to the street upon the same day that they were 
taken from the ground. The shock of transplanting was thereby 
reduced to a minimum. It was found that an abundance of 
fibrous roots were developed in the one or two years growth in 
the nursery. Hence the Commission adopted the plan of pur- 
chasing trees for street planting 114 to 134” caliper as the most 
desirable size to plant with a chance of the least percentage of 
loss, and to get trees of one, two and three sizes smaller for plant- 
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