Groups of related experiments, of more than 300 plots, with seedlings and transplants of Picea sitchensis , tested inorganic fertilizer and bracken-hopwaste compost, and compared continuous conifer cropping with a rotation in which one conifer crop in three was replaced by fallow or a green manure crop. The experiments, lasting 15 years, were done in a nursery on moderately acid agricultural land at Kennington and in a heathland nursery on an acid sandy podsol at Wareham. At Kennington, seedlings given fertilizer grew better throughout than those given compost, with no additional benefit when both were given, despite considerable increases in soil organic matter and nutrients on compost-treated plots. On plots with fertilizer, growth was maintained during the experimental period. At Wareham, fertilizer lost its initial advantage; neither of the manunal treatments supplied adequate amounts of major nutrients but fertilizer and compost together was better than either alone. With transplants, at both nurseries, fertilizer was slightly more effective during the early years, but compost later. Interrupting continuous conifer cropping by fallow or green crops had no advantage at either nursery.