The American nursery grows such a different class of products from the European establishment that organization studies of the two are not com parable. The American nurseries grow relatively large quantities of fruit trees, and these are not trained to special or individual forms. The busi ness is conducted, for the most part, in a wholesale way, with a consequent small value for each piece in the product. As the country fills up and special tastes develop, and as new or untreed land is more difficult to secure, a new line of studies will need to be made of the economics of nursery agriculture.
There is no good separate literature on the nur sery business, although there are books on nursery practice, as Bailey's "Nursery - Rook," Fuller's "Propagation of Plants," and chapters in the lead ing fruit hooks. The American Association of Nur serymen publishes annual proceedings, and there are special journals. In Vol. I of this Cyclopedia (page 193) is a discussion of the capital required for establishing an up-to-date nursery. Following is advice on the equipment needed for an average nursery, by E. Albertson and W. C. Reed, of Indiana (comprising the remainder of this article): As to the equipment, the wagons, harness, teams and tools used on a good, well-equipped farm for preparing the soil,— such as breaking plows, har rows, rollers and crushers—are all needed in the nursery ; while for cultivating, the same tools as used on the farm for corn, potatoes and garden truck can be used to advantage. To these may be added the small bar plows, some finer tooth culti vators, and double cultivators with extra high arches. Drags or floats, both single and double, are needed to follow the cultivators to crush the clods and pack the soil, especially in dry weather, and hand weeders to use in place of hoes except in very hard ground or for heavy work.
Planting tools will also be needed. For small plants the dibble may be used to good advantage, but for the planting of most small stock the light spade is preferable. Machines are now made for opening up the ground and pressing back the dirt after the plant has been inserted, proving to be a great saving of expense and labor where large plantings are made, but they would hardly pay the small planter.
Sheds will be needed and water barrels should be provided to keep on hand plenty of water for pud dling everything before planting. If the nursery man is to grow largely of seedlings, seed-sowing machines adapted to the seed to be planted should be provided. For large blocks of peach trees, a
peach-seed planter should be had, the best of which costs about $125.
One of the most important parts of the equip ment is the spraying outfit, which should always be ready and often used from early spring till the latter part of summer. This should be adapted to the amount of service needed. Very small areas can be covered with the knapsack, while for a few acres the tank on a cart with a hand pump will be needed ; in large tracts, the power sprayers will be found to be more economical. The cost of these outfits will range from one to five hundred dollars.
Pruning, grafting and budding knives must be provided, stakes for marking varieties, raffia or other material for tying buds, shears for cutting off stocks, grafting threads and wax and cali pers for measuring the trees. Good, heavy digging spades will be needed. The equipment will not be complete without a power tree-digger and attach ments for hitching at least ten horses.
After preparations are made for planting, culti vating and digging, the nurseryman must prepare to handle and care for the stock properly after it is dug, and for this there should be suitable packing, storage and work rooms. A work room for grafting, making cuttings, grading and counting seedlings and cions, will be needed. The room for storage of grafts, seedlings and cuttings for planting, should be separate from those used for storing and pack ing trees ; if possible, a separate building is pref erable. The writers would advise that all buildings, whether called cellars or not, be made above ground and of only one story. The room for seedlings, cions and grafts should join the work room on the same level, both having dirt floors. The room for stor age of trees should be separate from all others ; adjoining this should be the packing rooms, where the planters' orders are sorted, and where all box and bale goods are pre pared for shipment, bulk shipments being loaded directly into cars from the stor.;ge room. A switch into or alongside of this packing room will be a great convenience. All these rooms should be frost-proof, excepting the packing room, and if that is also frost-proof it will be of great advan tage for grading, counting and tying stock taken up late, as this work can then be done when the stock could not be handled outdoors.