90 TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



phosphoric acid, and still less potash, but so small in amount as to be insig- 

 nificant in passing on the value of a muck. Where practical it is well to 

 use a little lime with the muck as was done when the ground was first pre- 

 pared. To neutralize any sourness or acidity in the muck a liberal quan- 

 tity of hardwood ashes, unleached, forty bushels per acre, was worked into 

 the beds. The ashes served as a fertilizer, also, for this material contains 

 all the elements essential to plant growth except nitrogen, the lack of the 

 latter being supplied by adding a proper quantity of nitrate of soda. By 

 these means a barren, sandy soil was rendered highly fertile, and the dry, 

 dusty surface converted into ground of desirable consistency. 



This nursery is operated for the propagation of coniferous species 

 only, pines, spruces, and larch. Of the various kinds of pine, we are raising 

 white, 'red (Norway), and Scotch; of the spruces, Norway and our native 

 red spruce ; of larch (tamarack) , preference is given to the European species. 

 We have some beds of Douglas spruce and bull pine {P. ponderosa) , but 

 as these species are used sparingly in our reforesting operations they will 

 be given a place hereafter in another nursery recently established for 

 experimental work. The Norway spruce did surprisingly well in the nur- 

 sery beds, but so poorly in the plantations that we intend, as already men- 

 tioned, to discontinue its use and confine our planting, for a while at least, 

 to the three pines. This cannot be done, however, until we have used up 

 the large stock of spruce which we still have on hand. 



The arrangement of the beds and paths is the same as in the best 

 European nurseries. The transplant beds are four feet wide, fifty feet long, 

 and raised four inches above the paths. A wagon road divides the enclosure 

 equally in one direction and a broad foot path in the opposite one. The 

 foot paths between the beds are narrow, but wide enough to permit the use 

 of a wheelbarrow. 



The seed beds are few in number and occupy only a small part of the 

 enclosure, for one bed of this kind will furnish the seedlings for a large area 

 of transplant beds. The seed beds are twelve feet long and four feet wide, 

 and are made of carefully prepared earth. They are protected on the sides 

 and ends by a framework of boards eight inches wide, placed on edge. 

 These boards are pressed into the ground until they project about six inches 

 above the level of the bed. Large openings made in the boards on the sides 



