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for cultivation and demonstration purposes required by the school 
work mature or reach their most interesting stages at a season 
when the school is ordinarily closed for vacation. Another thing 
which has tended to make much school-garden work somewhat 
unsatisfactory is that after the work is once done no visible, tan- 
gible results are evident, and apparently no lasting good is ac- 
complished other than the instruction given and the knowledge 
of plant life which may have been acquired. ,^ 
A school nursery for the propagation of forest trees offers an 
interesting variation from the usual type of gardening and at the 
same time overcomes the difficulties just mentioned. The crop 
of the forest nursery is one which does not disappear with the 
close of the season, but instead the young trees need only to be 
transferred from the nursery bed to some new location on lawns 
or school grounds to become permanent evidence of the work 
done and a lasting tribute to the school. Furthermore, this work 
of transplanting the trees is best done early in the spring when the 
school is in session and at its best so far as the interest of the 
pupils is concerned. In this way the forest nursery is even more 
adaptable to school use than is the ordinary garden. 
A nursery on the lines laid down in this circular will not re- 
quire any more labor and attention than a garden, if as much, 
with the possible exception that there is the added necessity of 
collecting and storing the tree seeds through the winter. How- 
ever, if this is found impracticable, tree seeds may be purchased, 
just as vegetable seeds are, from dealers. The actual work of 
caring for the nursery is practically the same as that required 
for the care of the garden. The ground for the seed beds is pre- 
pared in the same manner, and the seedlings require about the 
same amount of attention that the vegetables do. On the other 
hand, the results will be much more enduring and valuable. Be- 
sides the opportunities afforded by the nursery for study and in- 
struction, the trees which are successfully grown will, if wisely 
utilized, be a source of comfort, beauty, and even profit to the 
school or community for years. 
The plan outlined in this bulletin is intended to furnish sug- 
gestions and directions by which a school may establish and care 
for a small nursery. It is realized that schools will seldom have 
the best kind of soil available, or be supplied with all the tools 
desirable to do this work with the best results. Consequently, 
the attempt is here made to give directions which will be appli- 
cable to schools with very limited resources. 
It is intended, further, to make these plans usable over as wide 
a range of territory as possible. Certain localities, with unusual 
conditions of temperature or humidity, will undoubtedly face 
local problems which are not touched upon in this bulletin. In all 
such cases the Forest Service of the United States Department of 
Agriculture invites correspondence with regard to the difficulties 
