THE MACEDON STATE NURSERY. - The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946) - 1 Feb 1896 (original) (raw)

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Sat 1 Feb 1896 - The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946)
Page 11 - THE MACEDON STATE NURSERY.

THE MACEDON STATE NURSERY.

The selection of Macedon some 20 years

ago as a site for a state nursery was not an

unwise one. It is close to the railway station,

and pretty centrally situated between Mel-

bourne and many of our inland towns. Its

soil is poor, and in places stony, thus ren-

dering the young plants reared there hardy

and more suitable for transplanting to the

various parts of the colony than if they had

been grown in a more fertile soil and in a

more genial climate. The reserve is about 30

acres in extent, of which one-third is occu-

pied with young nursery stuff, specimen trees,

and plantations of various kinds. The cost

to the country of this establishment is be-

tween £900 and £1,000 per annum. The

number of men employed at present is six,

but when times were better, before the

pruning knife of retrenchment was so

severely used, considerably more men were

engaged. Considering the small staff the

place is well kept. Great improvements have

been made within the last few years. A

deal of the ground being very steep, was

always with heavy rains being washed away.

This has been remedied by forming terraces,

so that the young seedlings do not now get

injured. Walks and drives have been graded,

widened, and lengthened. Just inside the

entrance gate a small reservoir or fish-pond,

with a fountain in the centre, has been made.

No suitable material for making walks being

obtainable in the neighbourhood, quartz

gravel has been brought from Creswick, at

the cheap rate of 28s. per railway truck of five

tons delivered. At one time the water re-

quired was pumped up by a M'Comas water

lifter from the large reservoir, but now it is

supplied by the local water trust at a cost of

£25 per annum, considerably less than the

A large number of visitors from the metro-

polis and other places avail themselves of

these gardens tor recreation purposes, and it

is gratifying to learn that little or no damage

is done by them to the trees and shrubs.

A large number of fine specimen trees are

named with good large labels. This is not

only instructive, but interesting to visitors,

and if names were affixed to the whole of the

plants the little extra cost would not be

much, and the public would be grateful.

This nursery was first established by the

Government for the purpose mainly of

growing plants with which Crown lands may

be afforested. Then requests were made for

supplies to plant the grounds attached to

state schools, charitable institutions, and so

on. Municipal bodies applied for trees to

plant in their streets and reserves; and more

recently, as stocks of young trees became

large, selectors and others were supplied.

With the policy of distributing large

numbers of plants gratis we have now nothing

to say, but nurserymen sometimes complain

bitterly that their business is seriously inter-

fered with by the Government in its free

The average output of plants is about 150,000

per annum, consisting chiefly of pines of

various kinds, gums, oaks, ash, maples,

willows, and many other shrubs and trees.

The commoner kinds of pines are raised in

the open beds like onions, the rarer and

more delicate in boxes and frames. Fully

half a million of English oaks, from yearlings

up to three and four years old, are here. A

plantation of cork oaks (Quercus suber) has

for many years past been seeding, and large

numbers of this valuable tree have been, and

will be distributed to all parts of the colony.

All the oak family do well here, there being

quite a good collection of these valuable trees.

The evergreen Hodgsoni is very fine, but one

of the features of this place in the autumn

months must be the fine specimens of the

glorious scarlet oak (Q. coccinea). The

scabby-leaved Californian oak (Q. acrifolia)

is distinct from all others.

Close to the foreman's cottage is a fine

copper-coloured beech, about 25ft. high.

This seeds, and young plants have been

raised, some of which are the true copper

coloured ; the others have reverted back to

the common green-leaved beech, of which

there is also a good specimen. The native

beech (Fagus Cunninghami) seems as much

at home here as at the Black Spur. Good

examples are seen of both the silver and the

common birch, and also of the English larch.

Ashes of several kinds include the beauti-

ful golden, and also the elegant weeping ash.

The " Killarney," and also the " Canary

Islands" strawberry trees thrive immensely

here, and in winter must be pictures when

laden with their beautiful scarlet and orange

coloured fruits. Pyrus Thompsoni, or

" white bean tree," is a beautiful evergreen

shrub, with handsome silvery-looking

Among economic subjects are a bed of tea

plants, the "grass cloth" plant (Bœhmeria

nivea), "Esparto grass"(Stipa tenacissima),

a lot of phylloxera-proof vines raised from

seed, several species of rhus for tanning and

dyeing purposes, a good number of hickory

and black walnuts, and various other plants

useful for food or in manufactures.

The almost universal mistake of planting

trees too thickly has been carried out even

here. Many fine specimens are crippled for

want of space to develop, and the avenue

of Oriental planes at the entrance has

been spoilt by the large pines, which choked

them, and which recently had to be cut

A few of the finest of the coniferous trees

are worth noting. The "Californian red-

wood tree" (Taxodium sempervirens) is about

55ft. in height, and a noble specimen. The

"nut pine" (Pinus Fremontiana), also from

California, is rare; tree 30ft. Abies Merten-

siana (the Californian hemlock spruce), 20ft.,

is a graceful pendulous growing tree. Wel-

lingtonias are numerous and good. Pinus

Sabiniana, 40ft., has leaves fully a foot long

of a silvery grey colour. The "sacred in-

cense cedar" (Libocedrus Chilensis) is slow

growing, but makes a handsome shrub,

densely branched, and of conical shape.

Cupressus Lawsoniana does remarkably

well here, some specimens being very hand-

some. Thujopsis borealis is of rather slow

growth, but its curved branches, which droop

at the tips, and are of a silvery glaucous tint,

render it worthy of a place in most gardens.

Other fine specimens are Thuyas Lobbi and

gigantea, Callitris cupressiformis, Piceas

Normanniana, Fraseri, and balsamea, Arau-

carias imbricata and Braziliensis, Abies

Douglasi, Menziesi, Canadensis, and excelsa.

Pinus ponderosa is very handsome. There

are several grand specimens of this fine

The plantation of Pinus insignis outside

the nursery proper has done well, many of

the trees being between 60ft. and 70ft. high.

These were planted close, 16ft. apart, so as

to induce them to rush up quickly with

straight trunks. Unfortunately it has been

found that the timber of this handsome pine

is of little or no value.