58 



THE NURSERY. 



the plants could be saved, the expense of a nursery 

 would soon put an end to planting altogether. 



I have said above, that the land which I deem 

 best calculated for the purpose of a nursery, is that 

 which, when properly cultivated, and, in the gene- 

 ral run of seasons, is capable of producing an ave- 

 rage crop of corn. This, however, is a very general 

 description, serving merely to point out the degree 

 of fertility which I think nursery ground should 

 neither greatly exceed nor fall below, and may be 

 applied with equal propriety to several specific va- 

 rieties of soil, as clay, loam and others ; each of 

 which may be capable, and no more than capable, of 

 producing an average crop of corn of some kind or 

 other. All these varieties are not, however, equal- 

 ly suitable for our purpose. The proper soil for a 

 nursery is a light one. Each species of trees, in- 

 deed, has some particular kind of soil, which it pre- 

 fers to others ; and, in planting waste land, this fact 

 should be attentively regarded. But, in the nur- 

 sery, where many different kinds of plants are to be 

 raised, it is impossible to put each into the soil 

 which they like best ; because, in the extent of a 

 few roods or less, we do not generally find varieties. 

 There are, however, some sorts of trees, which, when 

 they are young especially, will grow more readily 



