Practical Sylviculture. 



605 



very dense are liable to damp off. When the plants are big enough to 

 handle they are transplanted into beds^ about one to two inches 

 apart, or into pots, until they are large enough to be planted in the 

 area to be afforested. 



A nursery site should always be situated on, or as near as possible 

 to the area to be planted, as long transport of young plants is 

 expensive and injurious to them. Permanent nursery sites are a 

 great mistake in sylviculture, and only in rare instances are they 

 permissible, and in a country like Victoria, with its varying climates, 

 they have little to recommend them, and except where water is 

 scarce they should not be attempted. 



Planting Out. — In some cases the plants are taken directly from 

 the seed beds to the forest, there being no pricking out or previous 

 transplanting done, but, unless plenty of room has been given the 

 seedlings in the nursery, this is not a good system, as the plants will 

 be found too tender to withstand the sudden exposure. Whatever 

 system is adopted, great care must be taken to injure the roots as 

 little as possible ; and, where practicable, all plants should have a 

 ball of earth round their roots, and as little time as possible should 

 elapse between the time they are lifted from the nursery to their 

 planting in the permanent position. When planting the roots must 

 be placed in as natural a position as possible, keeping them straight 

 down or slightly spread out, but on uo account should they be 

 bunched up or twisted. 



There are many different methods of planting, and each in turn 

 will be considered. It must be remembered we are only takino- small 

 plants, say 1> to 12 inches high. 



Planting with Balls of Earth or from Pots. — A hole is usually cut, 

 and this must be larger than the ball of earth attached to the plant. 



To ensure uniformity a special spade (Figure 5) is, as a 



rule, used, which enables the nurseryman to lift each 



plant with the same size ball of earth. The spade is 



circular, with one side open, it 



is also slightly conical. An 



excellent transplanter can be 



constructed from an ordinary 



one pound jam tin. When 



lifted the plant should look like 



A in the sketch, and not like B, 

 in Fig. 6. The plant should be rico 



placed in the hole at the same depth as it is growing in the nurserv, 

 and great care should be taken to press the earth well all round 

 the ball attached to the plant, for should water get in the hole and 

 lie at its roots, it means failure. 



Open Root Planting, without Ball of Earth. — This is the simplest 

 form of planting, but in Victoria is somewhat risky, unless the season 

 be favorable, aud yet with care a very small percentage of the plants 

 should miss. Here again the best system to adopt is to plant in 



FIC.5 



