Plan of Nursery
Roadway, 9 ft. wide; Paths, 4 ft. wide; Border, 12 ft. wide.
The site chosen for the seed-beds should be naturally sheltered, or failing this, such artificial shelter as is found necessary should be provided, as exposure of the young plants to cold, cutting winds causes them to become stunted and bark-bound. There should be a few cold frames for raising choice seeds and cuttings, but, as a rule, the less glass the better. In stocking the home nursery, it is always preferable to buy young plants of the kinds most needed, as also a few older specimens of such kinds as it may be deemed advisable to propagate from layers or by cuttings. Seedlings of many trees and shrubs can be procured from plantations on the estate, and when such are grown on, and carefully transplanted for two, three, or four years in the nursery borders, they soon form stout, bushy, and well-rooted specimens of the greatest value for forest-planting. This is a good and comparatively inexpensive way of getting up a stock of many trees and shrubs, but particularly such as are reproduced plentifully in a wild state. In the management of a home nursery the amount of care and attention required is certainly great; but any trouble, as well as expense, connected with starting and keeping it in good condition afterwards will be amply repaid by the increased value and superiority of the stock obtained.
In the working of the home nursery no hard and fast lines can be laid down, the nature of the season having much to do with the time at which the various operations may be taken in hand. A wet spring retards seed-sowing, a damp summer the killing-out of weeds and cleaning of the ground, and early autumn frosts transplanting.
For the various seasons the nursery-work might, however, be sketched as follows:—
Spring.—By February, all trenching, digging, manuring, top-dressing, and such-like work should be completed. Larch and thorn should be planted at once, as they start early into growth, following up with the various kinds of hardwoods and pines. Layers should be planted out and trees for grafting and budding made ready. Collect larch and pine cones, and when quite dry store away in a cool, airy place, until wanted for sowing. During March and April general grafting may be taken in hand. Ornamental coniferæ may be pruned and transplanted, and towards the middle of April plants from the seed-beds may safely be lined out in a sheltered part of the nursery. Tree seeds of all kinds should be collected as opportunity offers. In February sow yew, holly and thorn; in March, birch, beech and alder; in April, larch, silver fir, Scotch, Austrian and Corsican pines; and seeds of the less hardy coniferæ may be sown in pans or boxes and placed in a cool frame. General nursery-work should be finished up by the end of April.