nursery, in horticulture, an establishment or area for the propagation, breeding, and early cultivation of plants. In North America the term nursery originally specified a place where hardy woody plants, especially fruit trees, were started; but as the market for and interest in new varieties of garden plants increased, nurseries broadened their province to include the cultivation and development of all types of plants, including tropical varieties and annuals, and their sale either as seedlings ready for planting or as seeds. Until the advent of artificial irrigation and the use of vast greenhouses to control temperature, nurseries depended on natural conditions for success—as did the bulb nurseries of Holland, which were long famous for flowers and ornamental plants.

The modern nursery, staffed by horticulture experts and equipped with facilities for both experimental and mass production, supplies home gardeners, flower and fruit growers, farmers, and foresters with seeds and seedlings of specified qualities. Under nursery conditions varieties of plants have been bred that have greater yields and are hardier, longer blooming, and more disease resistant than those grown in the ordinary farm or garden, where controlled selection and hybridization is usually impractical (see plant breeding plant breeding, science of altering the genetic pattern of plants in order to increase their value. Increased crop yield is the primary aim of most plant-breeding programs; advantages of the hybrids and new varieties developed include adaptation to new agricultural
..... Click the link for more information. ). Grafting grafting, horticultural practice of uniting parts of two plants so that they grow as one. The scion, or cion, the part grafted onto the stock or rooted part, may be a single bud, as in budding , or a cutting that has several buds.
..... Click the link for more information. and budding budding, type of grafting in which a plant bud is inserted under the bark of the stock (usually not more than a year old). It is best done when the bark will peel easily and the buds are mature, as in spring, late summer, or early autumn.
..... Click the link for more information. are also commonly used by nurseries to produce superior plants, and some plants are now propagated from cells grown in a sterile medium.

nursery

Place where plants are grown for transplanting, for use as stocks for budding and grafting, or for sale. Nurseries produce and distribute woody and herbaceous plants, including ornamental trees, shrubs, and bulb crops. While most nursery-grown plants are ornamental, the nursery business also includes fruit plants and certain perennial vegetables used in home gardens (e.g., asparagus, rhubarb). See also floriculture.

nursery

1. a place where plants, young trees, etc., are grown commercially

2. an establishment providing residential or day care for babies and very young children; cr?che

3. short for nursery school

4. Billiards

a. a series of cannons with the three balls adjacent to a cushion, esp near a corner pocket

b. a cannon in such a series

nursery (redirected from nursery pigs)

nursery

nursery
(redirected from nursery pigs)