The size of the nursery will depend on how large the plantation is to be. For a 75-acre plantation, one acre of ground will more than supply all the plants required. It is always desirable to have a greater number of plants than is needed to just plant the acreage the plantation is to be, for after the fields are planted some of the plants may get injured from dry weather and require replacing with plants from the nursery. Any surplus left, after the trees in the fields are well established, can be sold to some later planter, who will find it to his advantage to purchase good nursery plants for his first planting and thereby save one year of time. It is advisable for all planters to buy plants for their first planting, but for the second year's planting they should have a nursery of their own from which they can select the strongest and most forward plants.
The land for the nursery should be selected as close as possible to where the plantation is to be. It should be on a slight slope to insure drainage, and free from rocks and stones. The soil should be ploughed or dug over to the depth of one foot and made as fine as possible. Beds should be thrown up six inches high and three feet wide. The surface of the beds should be made quite smooth and level; the seeds should be planted six inches apart and three quarters of an inch deep. A good way to ensure even and regular planting is to make a frame three feet wide each way. Pegs, three quarters of an inch long and five eighths of an inch diameter, should be fastened to one side of the frame, placing them exactly six inches apart. The frame, thus prepared, is placed, pegs down, on the bed. A slight pressure will sink the pegs into the soil. The frame is now lifted and you have the holes for the seeds all of one depth and equi-distant from each other. The seeds can now be dropped one in each hole. The seeds should be placed flat side down, and covered by brushing over the surface of the bed. If the weather is at all dry it is a good plan to mulch the surface of the bed with dry grass or fern leaves. The soil should be kept moist, and if there is not sufficient rain the beds must be watered. In six or seven weeks the seeds should sprout and show above ground. The mulching should now be moved from over the plants and arranged in the rows. It has been the practice of some planters to plant the seed much closer than six inches apart, but it will be found that plants at six inches apart can be more easily and safely transplanted than from close planted beds. It will be advisable in taking up plants from the beds, to take only every other one, this will give the remaining plants more room to develop and grow more stocky than would be the case if all the plants were taken up from each bed as they were required.