Comments on the Zanesville State Nursery, by Herb Techmer

The Nursery produces many varieties of tree liners. It is a state run facility and produces these liners for nurserymen through out the state of Ohio. They also produce these liners for reforestation projects of clear-cut areas. The liners that are sold, are not sold for a very high price. The seed stock is mostly obtained from private individuals who gather seed from trees that may not be considered good enough progeny for commercial nursery operations. This is why the liners are sold at such a low cost. It is a gamble to buy and sell these trees not knowing if they are going to grow into the ideal tree, or if they are going to look like some overgrown weed. In most cases you'll probably get a decent looking tree grown from this seed source. There are also a few seed orchards of oak that are harvested on the property.

Prof. Dan Struve explaining the processing of seed

When the seed is harvested or brought in by individuals it processed in one of the facilities. There is special machinery that de-wings, and separates the fruit from the seed. The seed is then treated appropriately to meet germination requirements. Some seed needs to go through the process of stratification and scarification in order to trigger a germination response. Other seed is classified as recalcitrant seed. This seed does not store well for long periods of time. Moisture levels must be maintained or the seed would die. Recalcitrant seeds usually hold for one growing season to three months.

Fruit-drying and seed processing facility
The seeds are germinated and sown directly into the field onto seedbeds. The seedbeds are raised four inches off of the ground. This allows for proper drainage of the seedlings. The nursery also used sawdust to cover the tops of the seedbeds after the seeds were sown. This helped to retain moisture for the growing seedlings. The production fields had a soil building program were a field would go out of production for a year and then planted with a cover crop. The seedbeds are located on what seems to have been a flood plain at one time. The soil is a sandy-loam which is perfect for this type of operation. Sandy-loam soil is good for growing liners because the soil can be shaken off of the root system easily and then shipped out to the grower.

A seedling bed

Prof. Struve, filling-in for our host who had an emergency and could not lead the tour

See more on the State Nurseries of the Division of Forestry of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources