8 Forestry Quarterly. 



extensively in tlie Government nurseries at Monument, Colorado 

 and Ft. Bayard, New Mexico, by the methods described below. 



A 6 inch board is laid on the transplant bed just in front of the 

 last row planted. This board is used as a guide for the next 

 trench which is dug with a vertical side, the dirt being thrown out 

 with a spade or shovel. The planting board consists of a 6 inch 

 board, 6 feet long, one edge of which is beveled to about -J inch in 

 thickness and has notches sawed in it approximately i inch deep 

 and i^ inches apart. This board is hung on hooks with the 

 notched edge up, on one side of a threading table, the notches ex- 

 tending above the surface of the table. Trees with roots extend- 

 ing toward the center and tops toward the edges of the table are 

 drawn from beneath a wet burlap cover and threaded into the 

 notches. A heavy string is then drawn taut on top or in front of 

 them to hold them in place while the board is carried to the trench. 

 The board is then put down in place of the one which guided the 

 spade when the trench was dug, and the roots of the trees hang 

 against the vertical wall of the trench. Dirt is shoveled or scraped 

 in against the roots and tamped, the ground smoothed, and the 

 next trench dug. Usually two men work together digging the 

 trench and planting the trees while a third threads the boards 

 and brings them to the planters. Additional help is required for 

 the third man occasionally. 



Sometimes instead of digging a trench by throwing the dirt 

 out, a trench is simply pried open with a spade. This method, 

 however, does not make a trench with sides sufficiently smooth to 

 let the roots of the trees in easily and usually is not as satis- 

 factory as digging the dirt out. 



It has been suggested that perhaps by the use of the above 

 method a better developed root system will be obtained than when 

 the trencher is used, but experiments have not proven this and it 

 appears that the development is about the same in one case as in 

 the other. Since the very decided advantage in speed gained 

 through the use of the trencher means a considerable reduction in 

 the cost of transplants especially where labor is high, it is be- 

 lieved that the trencher should commend itself for extensive use. 



