4 Forestry Quarterly. 



the trench. The digging of a trench by hand was slow and labor- 

 ious ; so a sled-like implement consisting of one deep runner nosed 

 with iron to make a trench and one shallow runner to serve as a 

 marker, was made and drawn by a horse. This reduced the labor 

 of digging the trench, but necessitated the planting of long nur- 

 sery rows, and precluded the possibility of placing these in neat 

 compact beds. In connection with the sled-trencher planting 

 boards about 5 feet long and made similar to that described be- 

 low were used. 



In the spring of 1908, there was an unusually large number of 

 trees to be transplanted and the advisability of putting these into 

 a small area that could be easily watered made the use of the im- 

 plements and methods formerly employed wholly unsatisfactory. 

 The attempt to devise better tools resulted in those described 

 below. 



The Trencher. — The trencher is commonly spoken of at the 

 Halsey Nursery as the "hand trencher" to distinguish it from a 

 trencher drawn by horses and devised for field planting. The 

 hand trencher consists of two plates of steel seven inches wide and 

 26 inches long welded together along one edge and drawn out to 

 a thin cutting blade. The opposite edges of these plates are 

 separated about i inch allowing space into which three pieces of 

 three-fourth inch pipe slightly flattened are inserted and rivetted. 

 One piece of pipe is inserted in the center and the other two at 

 two and one-half inches from the ends of the plates. All are 

 brought together in a cross or 4-way pipe-connection, 8 inches 

 above the plates. Into the upper opening of the cross, a piece of 

 pipe 20 inches long is fitted supporting a tee into which 6 inch 

 pieces of pipe are screwed forming a complete T-handle. To 

 obviate a second bending of the pieces which extend from the 

 ends of the blade to the handle, nipples and angle connections 

 may be used as shown in the drawing and photograph. The 

 trencher weighs from 18 to 24 pounds depending on the thickness 

 of steel used in the blade and should be made by any blacksmith 

 at a cost of from $3.00 to 5.00. 



To make a trench the trencher is put in proper position and 

 weight put on it by placing the foot on the top of the blade. The 

 operator then works the handle to and from his body as the blade 

 sinks into the soil making a trench about two and one-half inches 



