The Yale Transplanting Board. 541 



Professor J. W. Tourney, 

 Yale Forest School, 

 New Haven, Conn. 



Dear Prof. Tourney: We like the Yale planting board very much, and 

 find that it has reduced the cost of transplanting a great deal and the 

 plants are put into the ground much better. The cost of transplanting in 

 the State nurseries vv^ith the board has varied from about 35 cents to 50 

 cents per thousand. At the Pembroke nursery where we use French 

 labor, a crew of five planted 18,000 per day. This was the first time we 

 used the board. The crew consisted of 2 boys at 75 cents per day each, 

 2 men at $1.50 per day each, and i man at $2.00 per day. The average 

 cost on this job was z(> cents per thousand. At the Boscawen nursery 

 we had soil conditions that were not favorable for fast work, but we had 

 better labor and were able to plant from 20,000 to 23,000 per day. Average 

 cost per thousand, 45 cents. , 



Yours very truly, 

 E. C. Hirst, State Forester, New Hampshire. 



In the past, coniferous seedlings have been set in the transplant 

 beds in this country chiefly by use of trowel or dibble. In a few 

 instances transplant boards of European origin have been used, 

 but with indifferent success. The superiority of the board herein 

 noted over others seen by the writer, is chiefly due to the follow- 

 ing: 



(i) The firmness with which the plants are held in the board. 



(2) The attachment of the strip which holds the plants in 

 place, directly to the handles, making its action rapid and certain. 



(3) The certainty of the depth of planting, resulting from the 

 handle strips on the back of the board fitting over the trenching 

 board when the transplanting board is in position. 



(4) The rapidity of filling the trench after the plants are in 

 position because of the protection afforded the tops by the strip 

 holding them in place. 



In using this board the transplant beds can be laid out 6 ft. 

 wide and of indefinite length, the rows running crosswise of the 

 bed or the bed can be of indefinite width as well as of indefinite 

 length. In the former case the rows are usually 6 in. apart where 

 white pine and similar conifers are transplanted. In this case the 

 beds are kept clean by hoeing and weeding. In the latter case 

 the rows are usually 10 in. apart which permits the working of a 

 hand cultivator. In either type of bed a board 5 in. wide and of 

 proper length should be used on which the men stand in trenching. 

 In the process of trenching, a nearly straight spade should be 

 used, the "trencher" standing with one foot on the board and the 

 other on the bed. By inserting the spade vertically by the side of 



