54 MISC. PUBLICATION 4 3 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



soiling crop may decompose sufficiently and not interfere with seeding 

 or cultivation. 



Where legumes are sown, the seed should always be inoculated with 

 the proper nitrogen-fixing bacteria before sowing. In theory, once 

 such inoculation has been made on a given area, sufficient bacteria 

 should carry over in the soil so that no further inoculation is necessary. 

 In practice this does not always work out, and inoculation of every 

 new sowing of legumes appears to be the safer procedure. 



Some nurserymen make a practice of composting all fertilizer 

 materials used in the nursery. This compost pile consists of alternate 

 layers of manure with some material like straw, peat, humus from the 

 forest, or the aerial portions of such crops as soybeans and cowpeas. 

 The layers are generally from 4 to 8 inches thick, and as each layer is 

 built up it is fortified with a small amount of a complete commercial 

 fertilizer. This is sprinkled on top of each layer and wet down with a 

 hose. Enough commercial fertilizer is added so that there are 100 to 

 200 pounds per ton of compost. The compost pile is dished at the top, 

 and watered occasionally to prevent excessive heating. The compost 

 is ready for use in 3 to 24 months depending on conditions favorable 

 to fermentation and decomposition, and is applied at the rate of 5 

 to 10 tons per acre. Composts are expensive, however, and in most 

 nurseries in the plains region animal manures supplemented with 

 superphosphate, with an occasional soiling crop, will suffice in retaining 

 soil productivity at a minimum cost. 



In some cases in which it may not be feasible to use animal manures 

 as extensively as desired because of the high cost of hauling or ship- 

 ping, the nurseryman can resort to such commercial fertilizers as 

 bonemeal, dried blood, tankage, cottonseed meal, ammonium sulfate, 

 superphosphate, and muriate of potash. Complete fertilizers, con- 

 sisting of an 8-12-4 combination of ammonium sulfate, superphosphate 

 and muriate of potash, have given good results when worked into the 

 soil before seeding in amounts varying from 600 to 1,000 pounds 

 per acre. 



THE WATER SUPPLY 



Quantity and Quality of Water Required 



An adequate supply of water is an important requisite of a good 

 nursery site. Although exact data showing the volume of water 

 required to produce a crop of deciduous nursery seedlings in the 

 plains region are not available, some empirical observations point to 

 the conclusion that from 5 to 15 inches of water per year is actually 

 used by a good stand of seedlings, depending on species and length of 

 growing season. Since in the north not over one-third and in the south 

 not over one-fourth of the total water applied to the land is commonly 

 used by crops, it may readily be calculated that 20 to 30 inches per 

 year, depending on latitude, represents the barest minimum for safety. 

 Intensive cultivation and care in applying water may, however, go 

 far toward reducing such apparently extravagant demands. 



