THE HOME NURSERY: ITS FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT
In the course of my experience on large estates where planting has
been extensively engaged in, few things have been more particularly
impressed upon me than the importance of having a well-managed and
well-stocked home nursery, where the propagating and raising of
trees and shrubs required for forest and ornamental planting may be
taken in hand. The numerous advantages of a home nursery, especially
where planting is extensively carried out, are now so well known and
appreciated by every proprietor of large estates that comment on this
subject seems almost unnecessary.
Where ornamental planting, the formation of woods and plantations, game
coverts, or hedging is performed on an extensive scale, the convenience
of a home nursery cannot be over-valued, the plants being at hand when
wanted, of the size and in the quantity required, and known to be well
rooted, sturdy, and free from disease.
The advantages in these cases are too well known to require comment,
and plants, more especially those of a large size, sent from even a
short distance by either road or rail, cannot be expected to succeed
equally with those raised and planted on the same day. The extra soil,
or ball, with which large plants can be removed for a short distance is
also much in their favour, but it is next to impossible to retain this
where packing and transit have to be resorted to.
It is well known that too sudden a change from rich, well-sheltered
nursery borders to bare, exposed hillsides often proves fatal to
young plants; and, when we consider that few public nurseries are at
a greater elevation than about 500 ft., the necessity of proprietors
rearing their own stock, whose plantations are, perhaps, upwards of
1,000 ft. above sea-level, will the more readily be seen. There are
certain difficulties to contend with in planting high-lying ground,
more especially if the soil is poor and thin, and the situation
exposed, and in these cases the advantage of using hardy plants that
have frequently been transplanted in a well-chosen home nursery at
a fair altitude is very noticeable, especially when contrasted with
others that have been grown under more favourable circumstances and
in a sheltered position. Some plants seem better adapted than others
for this removal, but in the majority of cases the shock sustained by
transferring from low-lying ground to that at a great elevation is only
too apparent, and one from which the plants seldom recover. The same
holds good in the case of seaside and town planting.
Of late years in particular, a good deal of comment has taken place
as to the necessity of rearing trees from seed sown on the site of
the future plantation, and although the suggestion has many points in
its favour, still artificial planting is better adapted to the wants
of our country, and is not at all likely to be superseded by natural
reproduction, which is more fitted for countries differently situated
from our own.
The nursery treatment of plants is, therefore, sure to remain a
prominent feature of British forestry, and this being the case, the
soil and situation, as well as the most successful treatment of these,
with a view to producing plants suitable for the positions they are
intended to occupy, will require due consideration. This will vary much
according to the situation of the estate and ground to be planted. In
choosing the site of a home nursery, a great deal will depend on the
general elevation and exposure of the estate. The situation should
neither be too much exposed nor yet too sheltered, and should have a
southern or western aspect; for, although too sudden a change from
sheltered to exposed ground often proves fatal to young trees, this
should not altogether form a criterion for rearing them in situations
unfavourable to the development of strong, healthy plants. The soil
should be good, friable loam, on an open, porous subsoil; but the
quality of ground required for different seedlings is so diversified
that it is next to impossible to suit all within the small bounds
required for a home nursery.
As water is indispensable where seedlings are raised, as well as for
numerous other purposes in the nursery, it is well to have provision
made for a continuous supply, either by a stream running through the
ground, or in close contiguity to it, or by having a pipe laid on from
the main water-supply.
From six acres to ten or even fifteen acres will be found sufficient
nursery ground for most estates, but it is always advisable to add
a little more than is really required, so that the brakes may not
be all under forest trees at the same time, but undergo, when found
necessary, a course of green crops, which will not only enrich, but
clean, the ground and leave it in good condition for replanting with
seedling forest plants, bearing in mind that farmyard manure should
always be applied first to the green crop, and never directly to the
plants themselves. When a plot has become impoverished by repeated
croppings of forest trees, a heavy coating of well-decomposed farmyard
manure should be applied, and the ground planted with potatoes, or sown
down with turnips. This has an almost magical effect in improving,
regenerating, and cleaning the ground, and leaving it in the best
possible condition for receiving a crop of forest plants. Land intended
for nursery ground should be thoroughly trenched to the full depth of
the soil, taking care, at the same time, that the best soil is kept
within a reasonable distance of the surface, and, where necessary,
heavily manured or enriched by the addition of lime, vegetable soil, or
loam as the case may be.
In laying out the ground into brakes it will be found convenient to
have these either square or rectangular in shape and, if possible,
parallel with each other. The brakes should be of different sizes, and
divided from each other by walks or hedges, but the fewer of the latter
the better. It is well for convenience sake to have a border, say from
12-15 ft. wide, running around the nursery, which may be stocked with
such trees and shrubs as are only limited in demand. A narrow border
like this is of great value, too, for planting out seedling stock of
the less common kinds, for the insertion of cuttings of the rarer
shrubs, as well as for any odds and ends that may be collected.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: TOOLS REQUIRED IN NURSERY.]
=Summer.=—The keeping down of weeds, watering and shading seed-beds,
and turning over and mixing of compost-heaps will be the principal work
for the months of May, June and July. Hollies should be planted out in
May, and seedlings of the same kind lined out in the nursery borders.
Elm seeds may be collected as they ripen, and some of these sown in
well-pulverized beds in June.
=Autumn.=—Weeds will still require attention, particularly in
seed-beds, and amongst young trees that have been recently planted out.
General transplanting of shrubs, particularly evergreens, may now go
on, and seedlings be lined out. Cuttings should be inserted in light
sandy soil by the middle of August, or when the temperature of the
earth and air is most nearly equal.
Trim nursery fences, cut grass, clean walks and roads, and attend
generally to neatness and order. Look over the brakes of pines, and
remove and burn such as are attacked by any of the various insect and
fungus pests to which they are liable. The seeds of ash, hornbeam, yew
and thorn should be collected and placed in barrels with about an equal
bulk of sand, to hasten the decomposition of the outer coating.
=Winter.=—The early winter months will be a busy time in the nursery,
the lifting and dispatching of trees for forest-planting being one of
the principal operations—at least, so long as the weather remains mild
and open. As time permits, two and three year old plants should be
lined out, well-rooted cuttings lifted and transplanted, and layers
from old stools carefully cut away and placed in the borders for a
year or two before being finally planted out. Turn manure-heaps, and
add a small quantity of fresh lime to hasten general decomposition, to
sweeten the soil, and deprive the seeds of weeds of their germinative
properties.
Sloe, holly, and similar berries may be collected as they ripen, and
stored in the usual way.
In November and December, horse chestnut, oak and hazel may be sown in
well-pulverized beds of good, rich soil. Ash and hornbeam are sometimes
sown in January.