26 RECLAMATION OF CAPE COD SAND DUNES. 



and plants are dormant for a considerable period of planting weather. 

 (2) The new rootstocks appear to be more tirmly attached than they 

 are in the spring, and are consequently less liable to be broken off dur- 

 ing the transplanting process. (3) The days are cooler and the inci- 

 dent evaporation less. (4) It is easier to distinguish prime planting 

 stock, and the rooted nodes lying within a few inches of the surface of 

 the sand may be readily removed by hand pulling; in the spring they 

 are apt to be either buried or exposed by the action of the shifting 

 sands. (.5) There is an additional winter of effectual i)rotection to be 

 gained by fall planting, as the dormant sets suffer no deterioration the 

 first winter. 



The above table concerning the plantings of the different years and 

 seasons shows a marked difference in favor of fall planting. How- 

 ever, the difference between the two seasons is so slight as to be offset 

 by any practical reason why the spring season should ))e utilized for 

 [)lanting, as for instance the greater ease in procuring the labor or the 

 necessity of finding nearly permanent employment for the help in 

 order to keep it available when needed. In case the planting is exten- 

 sive it can rarely l>e completed in one season, and the planting period 

 is thus practically doubled if the spring as well as the fall season can 

 be utilized. 



SELECTING AND TRANSPLANTING THE SETS. 



The plants selected for transplanting are vigorous and well rooted. 

 • This means in practice 2-year-old stock, as the year-old plants are not 

 mature enough or suflicientlv rooted to bear transplanting well, as do 

 the older plants. If more than two years old the vitality is likely 

 to be low. As a rule the 2-year-ol(l plants may be readily pulled with 

 the hand and still retain sufficient rootage to enable them to grow 

 when transplanted (PI. Ill, fig. 1). It should l)e mentioned that the 

 hand pulling is not extensively practiced elsewhei-e in the country, it 

 being the custom to use a spade or shovel in procuring the planting 

 stock. The results indicate that it is largely a matter of opinion as to 

 which method is the better. The plants are piled in bunches and carted 

 to the place where the planting is in progress. Whenever they are to 

 be exposed to the air for any length of time they are heeled in with a 

 covering of moist sand over the roots. 



When settino- out the grass it is the custom for two men to work 

 together (PI. Ill, Hg. 2). The one with a shovel inserts it in the sand 

 as far as the foot can force it. A backward pull of the handle loosens 

 the sand at the l)ottom of the hole, while a forward thrust produces a 

 suflicient opening l)etween the back of the shovel and the sand to allow 

 the insertion of the plant by the second man, who carries an armful 

 of the sets. The man with the shovel l>v one pressure of his foot packs 

 the sand around the newl}" set plant. The shovel is inserted a second 



