158 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Efficiency in the Nursery, Planting the Stock 
By William Flemmer . Jr., Manager Princeton Nurseries, Kingston, N. J. 
E FFICIENCY and system are the slogans of the bus¬ 
iness world today. They can and are being suc¬ 
cessfully applied to the nursery trade. Those 
having the greatest efficiency and best systems are the 
ones that are making the greatest progress. By best 
systems we do not mean the most complicated, far from 
it. In our estimation the best system is the one that 
will give all the necessary results with the least amount 
of labor. You might think the following method of sys¬ 
tematized planting includes too much clerical work and 
that the old way is good enough. This is not the case, 
however, for in order to obtain the best results it is nec¬ 
essary to devote a reasonable amount of time and energy 
to the task. 
How many ornamental nurseries are there that have 
and keep only good thrifty stock? Few indeed are 
there that have not a part or portion of their ground cov¬ 
ered with old overgrown stock, of no use except for the 
brush pile. It has been said that, “The brush pile is the 
most profitable part of the business,” this might be just 
a little far stretched, hut the brush pile is the most effec¬ 
tive means of making profit on ground that has been ly¬ 
ing in neglect and disuse by overgrown stock. 
To begin, let us compare the appearance of the aver¬ 
age fruit nursery with the average ornamental nursery. 
In the former we usually find a total absence of over¬ 
grown stock, while in the latter many fields are seen 
with a row or two, of the evil; cutting up the field and 
making the best harbor for insect pests and diseases. 
Why the difference? It is simply because after a cer¬ 
tain period the fruit tree becomes worthless, and while 
the ornamentals do also, there might have been call for 
such stock in the past and the unwise grower keeps the 
stock hoping there might be someone foolhardy enough 
to accept it in the future. But the odds are too great 
and even if sold the stock is ill-shaped, thin and to use 
the phrase of an old darky, “Just no account trash.” 
When a shrub is beyond a certain age and size it is 
worthless, unless of a particularly slow growing sort. 
If specimens are your desire, transplant and give room 
but don’t let them stay in the original row, growing as 
best they can. 
Now to the solution you have heard enough to war¬ 
rant a remedy. Perhaps you have already given this 
matter much thought and have methods that answer your 
purpose, still the method as here explained may offer 
some new idea or suggestion. The first step is to mark 
the planting list as to years of maturity. In other words, 
you should know from experience the approximate period 
required for the different items to reach a saleable size, 
and just about how long each should remain saleable. 
Take the planting list and mark accordingly. 
For example we have found from experience that 
some of the stronger varieties of Viburnums such as 
plicatum produce plants of a commercial grade in two 
years. Cassanoides usually requires three years, Aceri- 
folium at least four years and some even longer. Now 
when the Spring planting list is classified, instead of ar¬ 
ranging all of these together we separate and plant the 
varieties reaching maturity at the same age in one block. 
We thereby avoid leaving any of the kinds after the rest 
of the block is dug, or digging when of too small a size. 
After so marking the list is re-copied, arranging the 
evergreens, trees, shrubs, and vines respectively. It 
might be added that in the trees the tall, medium and 
smaller varieties of the same maturity age should be 
grouped accordingly, thereby affording the best develop¬ 
ment for all. 
The last step is to key or mark the list, which shows 
the planter the distance required for each item and 
source. This is one of the most important functions and 
repays many fold the labor expended. How difficult it 
is to have the stock given the correct distance when duties 
at office or packing department require your attention. 
1000 Viburnum plicatum “0” 2. G. H. 
This illustrates how an item completely classified 
would appear on the finished list. “0” designates the 
distance, which in this case is three feet six inches be¬ 
tween the rows and eight inches in the row. The time 
required in years is shown by 2, and the source is green 
house (rooted cuttings). 
Now when the foreman starts planting he has all the 
necessary information in a nutshell, and there is abso¬ 
lutely no excuse for haphazard planting. In this way 
the list can be prepared in the dull winter season and 
you can rest assured that the stock will be planted just 
as you desire and without personal supervision. There 
might be a few minor changes to make but on the whole 
it will remain the same. 
These are the fundamental principals, but we go one 
step further and have all our lining out stock healed in 
bins according to time of maturity. This is just as easy 
to do and simplifies the planting. These rules apply to 
trees as well as shrubs, in fact it is in trees that we see 
the greatest variation inasmuch as they require a longer 
time to mature. 
Of course there are exceptions and the rare or slow 
growing sorts might be classified as such. It might be 
added that small seedlings and pot evergreens thrive best 
when planted in beds, the rows twelve to eighteen 
inches apart and five to ten inches in the row, according 
to size and variety. After remaining for two or three 
years they can be safely transplanted into nursery rows. 
Evergreens should he transplanted at least every two to 
three years to insure good roots and reasonable success 
in transplanting. 
If by reason of extraordinary growth or early sale a 
strip is cleared in a block, scheduled to be cleared the 
coming season; plant something that need stand but one 
season, such as yearling cuttings etc. Should this be 
unpractical it is good business to sow cover crops which 
prevent soil erosion, avoid cultivating and add greatly to 
the soil fertility. 
Systems like ourselves are not perfect. Some attain 
that state more nearly than others, and it is simply be¬ 
cause they are more efficient and managed to better ad¬ 
vantage. 
