NURSERY, 'a garden or .portion of a garden devoted to the raising of young plants, to be afterward planted elsewhere. The ripening of garden-seeds for sale is generally also an important part of the trade of the public nurseryman. Many culinary vegetables arc very commonly raised from seed in public nurseries, and Sold as young plants; the trouble of raising them in small gardens being found too great, although, when there is no public nursery at hand, even the cottage gardener may be compelled to undertake this trouble for himself, in order to procure a supply of young kale, cabbage. caulii flower, etc., in fresh and healthful condition. Many flowering plants, as wallflower. stock, sweet-william, etc., are also raised and sold by nurserymen. Another great use of the nursery is the rearing of fruit-trees. In the nursery the stooks are raised from Seed, the grafting is performed, and the training of the young tree, whether for stand ard, espalier. or wall tree, is begun. As, with regard to fruit-trees, the selection of grafts is of the utmost importance, the reputation of the nurseryman is particularly to he considered by the _purchaser; nor is there any trade in which this is more generally necessary, months, or sometimes years elapsing before the quality of the goods pur chased can be experimentally ascertained. The principal. and many of the smaller
towns of Britain are well supplied with public nurseries, which is the case also in many countries of continental Europe and in North America. Some of these nurseries are on a very great scale, as those of Messrs. Loddige of London, Lawson of Edinburgh, and Booth of Hamburg. The largest nurseries, however, are very much devoted to the rear ira• of ornamental shrubs trees, and of forest-trees. Plantations of forest-trees, even when very extensive, are now generally, although not always, made with plants obtained from public nurseries. The exertions made by nurserymen to obtain new plants from foreign countries, have contributed much, not only to the advancement of gardening in its various departments, and of arboriculture, but also of botany.—Much benefit also results from the exchange of the produce of the nurseries of different countries. Thus, bulbous roots are brought to Britain from Holland, from what may be described as nur series specially devoted to them; roses and orange-trees are imported from the nurseries of France, etc. It often happens that seeds imported from climates more thoroughly adapted to the plants, produce better crops than those raised in a colder climate or under a cloudier sky