SYLVICULTURE 49 



Methods of Planting 



In planting, the special notching spade may be used, or 

 the ordinary spade making an L or T notch ; but in proper 

 sylvicultural practice the most largely employed method is 

 pit-planting. 



The various shapes and sizes of pits, and the means taken 

 to make them, depend on the age of the plants and the 

 character of the ground. A very good form is shown in 



FIG. 6 



Fig. 6. The surface sod is first skimmed off (the broad 

 hoe, Fig. 7, will be found useful for this), then with the 

 spade the upper soil is lifted to one side and the deeper soil 

 to the other. Kneeling before the pit thus made, the worker 

 takes a plant out of the receptacle, and holding it in his 

 left hand, with his right he gathers the better soil about the 

 roots. In the case of Spruce and several other trees, a small 

 mound, composed of a few handfuls of loosened earth, is 

 formed in the bottom of the pit, and the roots are arranged 

 ("straddled") over this, allowing them freedom to strike in 

 all directions through the soil. The earth is gradually 

 brought into the pit and worked in between the roots, so 

 that the latter are brought into close contact with the soil. 

 Throughout this process the roots at different levels are each 

 given their natural positions until all are carefully buried. 



