USE OF WILD STOCK IN PLANTING 127 



8. USE OF WILD STOCK IN PLANTING 



Except for individual trees for home ground, park, or street plant- 

 ing, the use of seedlings and trees growing naturally in the woods or 

 open fields is generally unsatisfactory. The expense involved to ob- 

 tain large numbers of little trees for reforestation purposes is generally 

 not justified. Trees can be grown on a large scale in the nursery 

 much more cheaply than trees can be dug up from their natural con- 

 ditions. Furthermore, wild seedlings frequently have a scattered and 

 tender root system and generally a deformed crown or leaf arrange- 

 ment. Seedlings grown in nurseries generally have compact roots and 

 crowns, and they are better equipped to withstand the change in 

 transplanting from the nursery to the planting site. The cost of dig- 

 ging wild stock is generally far greater than the purchase price of 

 nursery-grown trees. 



Individual trees from .the fields and forests for planting purposes 

 should be selected with great care; small ones should be chosen. 

 Roots longer than 8 inches should be cut off, and trees with a fibrous 

 and wide root system, especially in the upper 8 inches of soil, should 

 be selected. Trees may be lifted with a shovel and moved to the new 

 site, after the roots have been wrapped in wet sacks. 



