ESTABLISHING FORESTS BY PLANTING 385 



cent. The great difference in the percentage of plants that sur- 

 vived the first season on the open site was primarily due to the 

 greater depth of the roots of the transplants in the soil. In the 

 case where the seedlings were set under an overwood the surface 

 soil did not dry out so completely, due to the protective cover and 

 less surface vegetation. 



29. Bad Effects of Planting with the Collar of the Tree 

 too Deep in the Soil 



The importance of planting so that the collar of the tree occu- 

 pies the same relative position in reference to the surface soil that 

 it had in its former position in the nursery cannot be overem- 

 phasized. This is of particular importance in planting spruce 

 and other shallow-rooted species on heavy soil when the stock 

 is more than 1 year old. When spruce or other shallow-rooted 

 species 2 or more years old is planted with the collar much 

 below its former position early growth is slow and the plant assumes 

 a stunted appearance. These unfavorable results are due to the 

 development of a new root system on the shoot just below the 

 surface of the soil and the dormancy or death of the old roots. 



Although we have little information drawn from observations 

 on deep planting in the United States, the investigations of many 

 European foresters clearly prove that poor results are likely to 

 follow the setting of plants too deep in the soil. Geist, 1 from ex- 

 tended observations on Scotch pine in Germany, found that the 

 best growth takes place and the stands remain closed to the end 

 of the rotation only when the bracing roots are near the surface. 

 He found that the deeper this species is set below the collar the 

 poorer the growth and the greater the danger that many of the 

 trees will die in the polewood stage. Many investigators have 

 recorded the bad effects from the deep planting of Norway spruce. 

 The older the plants the more disastrous the results. 



Reuss, 2 from extensive investigations with Norway spruce in 

 Austria, concludes that deep planting is the most frequent fault 



1 Geist, Senator: Welchen Einfluss hat ein zu tiefer Stand der Kiefer auf 

 deren Lebensdauer und Ertrag. (Zeitschrift f. Forst- u. Jagdwesen, S. 589- 

 596. 1913.) 



2 Reuss, Hermann: Die forstliche Bestandesgrundung. S. 248-270. Berlin, 

 1907. 



