316 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



In its operation it is placed at the point where the trench is to be 

 made and forced into the soil by pressure of the foot on the top 

 of the blades. By moving the handle to and from the body, it is 

 readily worked into the soil to the depth desired. The implement 

 leaves a trench with smooth sides, 2 or 3 inches wide at the top 

 and any desired depth up to 12 inches. 



The trencher is acceptable for use only in loose, sandy soil, en- 

 tirely free from stones, roots, and other obstructions. As the soil 

 becomes heavier the trencher is forced into the ground with in- 

 creasing difficulty and the sides of the trench are too compact for 

 successful transplanting. 



49. SETTING THE PLANTS IN THE TRENCH BY HAND. In many 

 nurseries as the trench is made workmen set the plants by 

 hand. A number of plants are held in the left hand and the 

 workman kneeling on the bed facing the trench begins at the 

 right taking the plants one at a time between the thumb and fore- 

 finger of the right hand and places them in the desired position 

 against the wall of the trench with the roots hanging vertically 

 downward. With the remaining fingers of the right hand the 

 loose soil is brought against the roots. After all the plants are 

 set the trench is completely filled and the earth pressed down with 

 the feet. 



This method works very expeditiously with experienced labor 

 and is the only method practiced in many of the largest nurseries 

 both in Europe and in the United States. Although excellent in 

 principle, it is very difficult to fill in the soil about each tree as it 

 is set without some of it occupying the trench where the follow- 

 ing tree should be set. The roots are likely to be set too shallow 

 or bent to one side and as a result the plants develop a lop-sided root 

 system. 



50. SETTING THE PLANTS IN THE TRENCH WITH THE TRANS- 

 PLANTING BOARD. Of late years a great variety of transplanting 

 boards have been constructed with the object of facilitating and 

 reducing the cost of transplanting. In all of these boards the 

 plants are placed in grooves or notches at regular intervals along 

 the board and brought over the trench with the roots hanging 

 vertically downward. When properly adjusted the earth is filled 

 in about the roots and the board removed. When the trench is 

 made sufficiently deep, the planting board is a very efficient and 

 valuable nursery implement. The plants are more regularly 



