NURSERY PRACTICE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 11 
pipe line which runs along one edge of the nursery. (See PI. II.) 
From this pipe it is distributed to the beds through 6-inch canvas 
hose, flooding being practiced for transplant beds and for the seed 
beds after germination is completed. 
SPRINKLING SYSTEM. 
In the sprinkling system the water is conveyed to and through 
the nursery by a system of pipes and applied to the plants ordi- 
narily by the use of garden sprinklers. Where it is practicable, a 
gravity pipe-line sprinkling system in which water is diverted from 
a spring or stream at a higher elevation and thence conveyed directly 
to the nursery is the best type because it is the simplest. A system 
with a tank or reservoir above the level of the nursery to which 
water is pumped and then piped to the nursery may in some cases 
be the most practicable one. A tank or reservoir may sometimes be 
necessary, even with a gravity system, to provide for storage of 
water to meet the needs of the nursery when heavy watering is 
practiced. 
In planning a sprinkling system the length of hose to be used 
should first be decided. The most convenient length is 50 feet. 
Greater lengths are cumbersome; shorter lengths necessitate a too 
frequent change of faucets. As a hose should reach half way be- 
tween parallel lines of pipes, it follows that adjacent pipe lines 
should not be farther apart than 100 feet. Given two faucets 100 
feet apart, it is clear that a 50-foot hose will convey water in a line 
with them over a distance of at least 190 feet. This allows only 45 
feet for the length of the hose, the assumption being that a portion 
of its length will be taken up by curves at the faucet and nozzle. 
Keeping on a path, a man, hose in hand, can conveniently water a 
strip only about 15 feet wide on either side of it. This indicates that 
the paths from which the watering is to be done should be 30 feet 
apart and that there should be a faucet at each path. Thus the sec- 
tions of beds should be 30 feet wide throughout and of any desired 
length up to 100 feet. For a sprinkling system of watering, this is 
believed to be a very economical arrangement of pipe lines and 
faucets. If a shorter hose were used it would be necessary to have 
the main pipe lines closer, necessitating more pipe and more labor 
for installation. The use of a longer hose would mean less pipe, 
but much additional time and labor in handling the hose. The in- 
creased weight of longer hose is not of particular significance, but 
the care necessary to prevent its dragging across the beds and bend- 
ing and breaking the plants is much greater in long than in short 
lengths. 
