G24 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



planted in July would show a very heavy mortality rate among the 

 seedlings. We thought it stood to reason that a seedling, dug from a 

 nursery where it had been plentifully watered, at a time when it was 

 growing very rapidly, and supposedly highly susceptible to injury by 

 drought and the shock of transplanting, had little chance for success 

 when carelessly thrust into a slit made by the planting dibble in the 

 dry-as-dust sandy soil of the region. 



So we were surprised when, upon examination of the areas in late 

 summer a year later, we found that the trees planted in July and 

 August not only appeared to be more healthy and were larger than 

 those planted in June, but also apparently the percentage of number 

 of survivals to failures was slightly higher. About 80 per cent of 

 the total number of seedlings, planted thus in the summer, survived; 

 this figure is just about the same as that obtained from counts of 

 survivals in the usual spring and fall plantings. 



One point which may be of importance as effecting the results of the 

 experiment must be noted, namely, that the seedlings were not more 

 than an hour in transit from the nursery to the field, and that all the 

 875 seedlings were planted in less than a day. Whether or not a longer 

 period of time, say two or three days in the case of long distance rail- 

 road shipments, between time of lifting and time of planting, will in- 

 crease the death rate of the number of seedlings planted, is a matter 

 of trial. 



It is quite certain, however, that on the Higgins Lake Forest at least 

 (where the nursery for the Michigan State Forests is located), fall 

 underplanting can begin early in August with entire confidence of the 

 success of the work. 



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