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NURSERIES 



NURSERIES 



As to the equipment, the wagons, harness, teams 

 and tools used on a good, well-equipped farm for 

 preparing the soil,— such as breaking plows, har- 

 rows, rollers and crushers — are all needed in the 

 nursery ; while for cultivating, the same tools as 

 used on the farm for corn, potatoes and garden 

 truck can be used to advantage. To these, may be 

 added the small bar plows, some finer tooth culti- 

 vators, and double cultivators with extra high 

 arches. Drags or floats, both single and double, are 

 needed to follow the cultivators to crush the clods 



Fig. 714. A peach-tree nursery. Oregon. 



and pack the soil, especially in dry weather, and 

 hand weeders to use in place of hoes except in very 

 hard ground or for heavy work. 



Planting tools will also be needed. For small 

 plants the dibble may be used to good advantage, 

 but for the planting of most small stock the light 

 spade is preferable. Machines are now made for 

 opening up the ground and pressing back the dirt 

 after the plant has been inserted, proving to be a 

 great saving of expense and labor where large 

 plantings are made, but they would hardly pay the 

 small planter. 



Sheds will be needed and water barrels should be 

 provided to keep on hand plenty of water for pud- 

 dling everything before planting. If the nursery- 

 man is to grow largely of seedlings, seed-sowing 

 machines adapted to the seed to be planted should 

 be provided. For large blocks of peach trees, a 

 peach-seed planter should be had, the best of which 

 costs about $125. 



One of the most important parts of the equip- 

 ment is the spraying outfit, which should always be 

 ready and often used from early spring till the 

 latter part of summer. This should be adapted to 

 the amount of service needed. Very small areas 

 can be covered with the knapsack, while for a few 

 acres the tank on a cart with a hand pump will be 

 needed ; in large tracts, the power sprayers will be 

 found to be more economical. The cost of these 

 outfits will range from one to five hundred dollars. 



Pruning, grafting and budding knives must 

 be provided, stakes for marking varieties, raffia or 

 other material for tying buds, shears for cutting 

 off stocks, grafting threads and wax and cali- 

 pers for measuring the trees. Good, heavy digging 



spades will be needed. The equipment will not be 

 complete without a power tree-digger and attach- 

 ments for hitching at least ten horses. 



After preparations are made for planting, culti- 

 vating and digging, the nurseryman must prepare 

 to handle and care for the stock properly after it is 

 dug, and for this there should be suitable packing, 

 storage and work rooms. A work room for grafting, 

 making cuttings, grading and counting seedlings 

 and cions, will be needed. The room for storage of 

 grafts, seedlings and cuttings for planting, should 

 be separate from those 

 used for storing and pack- 

 ing trees ; if possible, a 

 separate building is pref- 

 erable. The writers would 

 advise that all buildings, 

 whether called cellars or 

 not, be made above ground 

 and of only one story. The 

 room for seedlings, cions 

 and grafts should join the 

 work room on the same 

 level, both having dirt 

 floors. The room for stor- 

 age of trees should be 

 separate from all others ; 

 adjoining this should be 

 the packing rooms, where 

 the planters' orders are 

 sorted, and where all box and bale goods are pre- 

 pared for shipment, bulk shipments being loaded 

 directly into cars from the storage room. A 

 switch into or alongside of this packing room will 

 be a great convenience. All these rooms should be 

 frost-proof, excepting the packing room, and if 

 that is also frost-proof it will be of great advan- 

 tage for grading, counting and tying stock taken 

 up late, as this work can then be done when the 

 stock could not be handled outdoors. 



These buildings may be constructed of any 

 material most convenient and economical, but the 

 principle of insulation must always be carefully 

 considered. If the buildings are of brick, stone or 

 concrete, this insulation may be secured by air- 

 chambers in the walls and roof ; if the buildings 

 are of lumber, paper may be used for insulation, 

 making three or four air-chambers, and protecting 

 the paper outside and inside with lumber. This 

 makes one of the cheapest and most satisfactory 

 buildings, although the brick, stone or cement is 

 more durable. Gravel roofs and good air spaces 

 in the roofs may be recommended. 



To meet the requirements of the laws of many of 

 the states, a fumigating house or room must be 

 built. This should be separate from other buildings 

 and constructed according to approved plans, and 

 may cost from fifty dollars up. 

 _ Plenty of water should be at command at all 

 times. If it cannot be had from city waterworks, 

 private supplies should be installed, by engine or 

 windmill, with sufficient tank capacity to insure a 

 constant supply ; and this should be so distributed 

 as to be accessible in every part of the buildings. 

 Packing material, rye-straw and lumber for boxes 



