Lining out tree seedlings in Ledmore Nursery
The images are courtesy of Michael Lawrence of Bankfoot whose grandfather, Sandy Rose, was Forester and Head Forester at Ledmore Forest Nursery from 1950 (land acquired in late 1949) until his retirement in 1969. In 1966 the nearby Strathord Forest was brought under his charge. The year of the photograph is estimated to be around 1957.
A beautiful image of forest nursery lining out work in progress. Note that the seedlings are lined out in five rows and then one is missed to create an alleyway to accommodate tractor wheels and workers tending to the beds in future. The seedlings are held in place by the lining out boards placed end to end and run the full length of the nursery bed. This is a temporary stop for some adjustments to the plough. The Bristol 22 tractor will eventually pull it down to the end of the row thus packing the soil against the seedling roots while at the same time creating the vertical cut for the next set of lining out boards.
The tractor has hydraulic lifting arms and is capable of lifting the plough. It is uncertain whether this is Sandy Rose’s first or second version of the Ledmore lining out plough. His third version (Mark 3) was even lighter and more compact than this one. Sandy’s iconic machines coupled with the Ferguson tractors were a major step change in revolutionising nursery working and used in many of the small forest nurseries around the country in the 1960s. More details of the machine development will be posted later.
Note the ladies in the wind shelter placing all the small lightweight delicate young trees into the lining out boards. The already filled boards behind the chap leaning on the spade will be set up immediately the plough moves forward and the boards in the line lifted away for refilling.
Michael believes the tractor driver could be Eck Ewart and one of the ladies at the filling operation (on the right) is Mrs Margaret Douglas. Any more names and details would be very welcome.
Download Large Version (659kB)
Groups: Forest Nurseries, Forestry in Action, Groups of people, Other Vehicles and Machines