[ 
] 
| 
} 
' 
7 
.absolutely necessary, however, for a depth of 1 foot. Below that slabrock © 
case would wash away just the surface soil that is needed. 
‘removed. he land need not necessarily be scrub; many forest soils will m4” 
‘instance, a bed 3 feet wide with a path 18 inches wide alongside, and the plant 
-the distance apart of the see 
smake the nursery as square as may be. 
120 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Fes., 1900. 
Tropical Industries. 
COFFEE CULTURE IN QUEENSLAND—No. 2, 
By Mr. HOWARD NEWPORT, 
Instructor in Coffee Culture. 
THE NURSERY. 
‘Tue first thing that demands our attention is the site for the nursery. This 4) 
have been chosen before, and the germinating beds made there; butif the seed hal 
been germinated near the house, or in any handy bit of, land, the nursery 8” 
must be decided upon, and the work of felling (if necessary) and clearili 
stumping, and digging up set in hand. { 
In selecting the site of the nursery the proximity of water is an importal 
-consideration. Few works are more expensive than the transport of water, 
water will be necessary more or less during the life of the seedling and plant! 
the nursery, and this during the driest part of the year. The next point is the 
proximity of the future clearing to be planted up, for if the plants are take? 
-out with earth around each root, as is safest and best, the transport of D | 
seedlings to the field will be found a heavy and tedious item also. Having t v8 
roughly located the place where the nursery must be, the ground must © 
examined. Steep land is no special disadvantage, except on the score of Cony 
as the beds have to be flat. Cutting and terracing is. tedious and expensiv” 
therefore, if flat land is available select it by preference. For a surface sob | 
-deep-chocolate will be found nearly always good—a black soil will make a i i 
nursery, but frequently it is shallow and denotes a heavy subsoil. ‘The kind & 
soil to look for is a rich leaf mould, and if possible one that has a depth 0 
least 1 foot and 18 inches by preference, with a light porous subsoil. Al 
Since in a nursery the top soil is practically all that is required—the plant 
seldom being allowed to grow more than 1 foot either above or below the 
-surface—the subsoil is not of so much consequence as in the clearing where™, | 
plants have to spend the rest of their life. A free soil, the richer the better," 
r4 
f ab 
hard, stiff clay is to be avoided, but a free porous subsoil is always an advantagy 
the more especially as a few beds of plants may have to be left for stumps nes 
season. For the same reason avoid land that may be so near a creek as 10” 
flooded, for, though the use of the nursery itself may cease with the comment 
ment of the rainy season, a sudden flood may come earlier than usual, and in 
Having then decided on the spot to be made into a nursery, if serub, # 
must be cleared and grubbed, and then dug over and all stones and 100" 
good nurseries. of 
The area necessary must be worked out by the grower for himself. 1 
6 inches apart, would mean that a bed 20 feet long would carry about 7 
plants ; and for a nursery of 10,000 plants or thereabouts, an area of 60 feet oy 
‘60 feet or about 400 square ae would be necessary, and so on according © 
lings and the number required. we 
In laying out the nursery a uniform width of 8 feet for the beds will al 
-found the best, with a space of atleast 1 foot 6 inches between each as combi! | 
footpath and drain. The shape of the nursery does not matter, and must fi i 
‘in with the extent of the available land. If there is opportunity of choi 
