FOREST NURSERIES AND NURSERY METHODS IN EUROPE. 20~j 



followed that. The proprietor of the hotel at Camaldoli seemed satisfied with 

 this embargo on lumbering in his immediate vicinity, and lamented the fact that 

 on an adjoining tract of 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) a fine forest was being 

 cleared away by its non-resident owner, a member of the Austrian nobility. 



At Vallombrosa there is also a well-managed nursery belonging to the Forestry 

 Institute at that place. It is in Tuscany, and the forester desirous of visiting 

 this famous resort can go by rail from Florence to San Ellero, thence by a cog- 

 wheel railway up the mountain, five miles, to Saltino. From the latter place it 

 is only a few minutes' walk to the Hotel di Foresta and the " Istituto Forestale " 

 at Vallombrosa. The nursery at this place is on the college grounds, with an 

 altitude of 3,050 feet. The air is quite cool in summer, although the temperature 

 may be excessively warm in the Tuscan valleys. A high elevation is a desirable 

 condition for a forest nursery in this latitude. 



The plot contains between one and two acres, and is situated on a level terrace 

 surrounded by groves of forest trees. It is further sheltered from wind by the 

 mountain which, densely covered with tall firs, slopes upward from the rear of 

 the college buildings. The beds, planted mostly with silver fir, are in fine con- 

 dition and divided by well-kept paths. Through years of repeated working 

 the earth has been converted into a composite of rich soil in which there is a 

 large admixture of forest humus. Some of the seedlings are taken up when two 

 years old and sent to the plantation direct, without any previous transplanting. 

 At times a free distribution of seedlings is made to farmers or landowners who 

 may wish to reforest their denuded lands. 



The nursery at Vallombrosa has a capacity of about 800,000 plants. In 1903 

 the species growing there, and the number of each, were as follows: 



Silver fir 400,000 



Norway spruce ... 30,000 



European larch . 10,000 



Scotch pine 45,000 



Corsican pine 32,000 



Austrian pine 55,000 



Beech 50,000 



Chestnut 30,000 



Norway maple 1,000 



Sycamore maple 3,5°o 



Locust 125,000 



Other species 15,000 



Total 796,500 



