420 SEEDING AND PLANTING 



from 8 to 10 inches deep. The planters move along the furrows, 

 setting the plants in the slit at the desired points, usually at from 

 3- to 6-foot intervals (Fig. 126). The slit being continuous permits 

 the bringing of the roots into a vertical position much more effec- 

 tively than when it is 7 inches or less in length as is the case when 

 made with a spade or with other hand tools. The plant is inserted 

 with the left hand, and as soon as the roots are properly disposed 

 the opening is closed with the foot or with the spade. In the 

 latter case, the spade is held with the back to the plant and thrust 

 the full depth of the blade vertically into the soil about If or 2 

 inches from the plant. By bringing the spade forward the soil is 

 pressed against the roots and the opening closed. The planters 

 are usually divided into crews of 3 men, 1 carrying the plants and 

 2 planting. 



Two horses on the plow and 4 on the trencher prepare the 

 soil as fast as 9 to 12 men can plant. The planters should 

 follow as closely after the trencher as practicable, as the trees 

 should be planted before the surface of the soil in the opening 

 becomes dry. Plantations of western yellow pine in the sand 

 hills of western Nebraska, planted with the trencher in 1911, 

 had at the end of the first year after planting from 90 to 92 per 

 cent of thrifty plants. Although this excellent result was par- 

 tially due to the favorable season, it is believed by Bates and 

 Pierce that planting with the trencher will prove more effective 

 and less costly than any other method in the Kansas and Nebraska 

 sand hills. Calculating the work of each horse based upon cost 

 as two-fifths that of a workman, the planting of from 1000 to 

 1100 coniferous transplants is an average day's work of 8 hours. 

 This is a remarkably high average for any method of setting out 

 transplants. 



The chief objections to the method are: 



1. The deep layers of the soil in which the trees are planted are 

 much less fertile than the surface layers, hence early growth is slow. 



2. The roots are disposed in a single vertical plane as in planting 

 with the notching spade or with similar implements. 



On dry sites where the soil and soil cover are suitable, these 

 disadvantages are often overbalanced by the following decided 

 advantages: 



1. The cost is lower than by most other methods of planting. 



2. The roots are placed uniformly deeper in the soil. 



