HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 857 



MANAGEMENT OF CIDER. APPLE TREES. 



Choice of the Situation and Soil for a Nursery.' — The situation of a 

 nursery should be sheltered from high winds, but at the same time it should 

 not be so near any plantation of large trees as to' be in danger of its soil 

 being invaded by their roots. If the soil at our disposal is argillaceous, 

 compact, and generally sloping towards the south, that situation is the best 

 of any ; but if the soil is light and dry, a level surface, with a northern ex- 

 posure, is to be preferred. In strong land, having a fiat surface, and a 

 clayey or impervious subsoil, the trees become infested with lichens or moss; 

 in sandy or gravelly soils they languish, and in many cases the extremities 

 of the shoots die off every year; whilst they are subject to chlorosis (yel- 

 lowness) in soils that are too calcareous, that is to say, containing much 

 chalk or carbonate of lime. From what has been stated, it will appear that 

 the nature of the soil and aspect are not matters of indifference with the re- 

 gard to the success of a nursery. When the trees from a nursery are in- 

 tended to be planted in its own neighbourhood, the fittest soil to establish ifc 

 on is that which approaches nearest in its nature to that of the greater part 

 of the ground in the locality, because the young trees will not find any 

 change in the elements of their nutrition when they are transplanted, and 

 this greatly assists their taking root. For a seedling nursery, a soil rather 

 light than strong is generally preferred ; but for a training nursery, land 

 which has a greater degree of tenacity, or that contains a greater proportion 

 of clay than of sand, is the most proper ; if it is not calcareous the addi- 

 tion of marl would be beneficial. 



Having made choice of the situation, we must proceed to trench the whole 

 of the ground. This operation should be performed at a dry time of the 

 year, such as August, September, or October, in order to avoid spoiling the 

 ground by working it when wet. The surface should be left rough, that the 

 ground may be ameliorated by exposure to air and light and that it may be- 

 come more friable. 



Fourteen to sixteen inches is a sufficient depth for the trenching of a seed 

 nursery, because the plants do not remain long in it ; twenty inches would 

 be a good mean for a training nursery, for if the trenching were very deep 

 it would cause the trees to become tap-rooted, and they would not readily 

 take root when transplanted. 



Whatever be the depth adopted in trenching, the different layers of earth 

 should be mixed, in order to obtain a soil as nearly homogeneous as possible ; 

 but if we operate on pasture land the turf should be placed at the bottom of 

 the trenches. Compost and manure should be employed with discretion 

 when they are judged necessary. Animal and vegetable manures, reduced 



