NURSERY PRACTICE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 7 
CLIMATE. 
If possible nurseries should be located where the climatic conditions 
are very similar to those of the planting sites. Nursery stock will then 
be in a dormant stage in the spring or fall when planting should be 
done. Where climatic conditions are not similar, it often happens 
that in the spring the nursery stock must either be shipped while the 
planting site is still covered with snow or else held at the nursery, 
where it is likely to start growth; or it may be that the planting 
site will be free of snow and in the best condition for planting before 
the plants can be removed from the frozen or snow-covered beds of 
the nursery. In the fall the plants may be still in an unhardened 
condition at the time when planting operations should be conducted. 
Regions of excessive winter winds where a snow cover does not 
remain should be avoided because of the danger of winter killing 
unless artificial mulching is practiced. Mulching is expensive, and 
the mulch affords a refuge under which rodents may work and 
damage the stock. 
Regions of excessive rainfall, particularly if the soil is a cold one, 
are not well suited for nursery purposes. In such regions weeds are 
more numerous than where the climate is drier, moss and algae col- 
lect on the nursery beds, the stock is less sturdy, nursery operations 
are impeded, and the number of species which can be successfully 
grown is smaller. 
SIZE AND ARRANGEMENT OF NURSERY. 
There are two general types of Forest Service nurseries: (1) The 
small nursery of a capacity ranging up to 200,000 plants annually, 
usually located at a ranger's headquarters and designed for the pro- 
duction of stock for planting only on the forest on which it is situ- 
ated; and (2) the large nursery established to produce stock for 
planting a group of neighboring forests which have similar vegetal 
conditions. 
The relative merits of small and large nurseries have not been 
finally determined ; each possesses certain advantages over the other. 
Desirable sites of a suitable size for small nurseries are more plenti- 
ful than those for larger nurseries ; the available water supply need 
not be so great ; and permanent improvements in the nature of fences, 
water system, and buildings need not be so extensive. There is a 
decided advantage in growing plants near the areas where they are 
to be used ; the stock is on hand when wanted ; a part of the expense 
of packing and shipping is avoided, and retention by the roots of a 
part of the nursery soil, which would be shaken off in transporta- 
tion, is permitted. Insect or fungous attacks in a small nursery can 
