THE FOREST NURSERY 



313 



Photograph by U. S. Forest Service 



FIG. 79. Transplanting Douglas fir seedlings by the hole or pit method. 

 Near Pocatello, Idaho. 



should transplant 1- or 2-year coniferous seedlings at the rate of 

 from 400 to 500 per hour. In this method of transplanting the 

 workmen kneel on the unplanted portion of the bed facing the board 

 and make openings in the soil opposite the 

 notches in the board. The openings are 

 made with the dibble, trowel, or planting 

 hammer, held in the right hand. The 

 plants are inserted with the left hand and 

 the openings closed. The dibble should be 

 used only when the stock is very small 

 and has weak lateral roots. Care should 

 be taken that, the roots are not curled up- 

 ward at the ends due to the narrowness of 

 the opening. A long, narrow trowel or the 

 ordinary mason's trowel is very effective 

 in transplanting by this method. The 

 plants should be set at the same depth as 



i 



FIG. 80. The planting 

 hammer.. 



they were in the seedbeds and the soil should be thoroughly firmed 

 about the roots. Mayr 1 recommends the planting hammer as an 

 efficient tool for setting small transplants (Fig. 80). It is more 



1 Mayr, Heinrich: Waldbau auf naturgesetzlicher Grundlage. S. 406. 

 Berlin, 1909. 



