SYLVICULTURE. 



Spruce, Fir and Hemlock should be planted three to five years old, 

 after previous transplanting in the nursery. Ash should be planted 

 six years old when used in half swamps having luxurious growth 

 of weeds. Yellow Pine must always be planted one or two vears 

 old, unless ball planting is resorted to. 



After Tourney: For the prairies, yearlings are best in case of 

 Cottonwoods, Box Elder, Soft Maple (Soft Maple sprouts in June 

 and is very small in fall), Russian Mulberry, Catalpa, Walnut, Black 

 Cherry, Locust and Honey-Locust. At Biltmore, Black Cherry trans- 

 plants three years old do very well. Locusts two years old are 

 clipped back. Maple and Ash are transplanted and used three to 

 four years old; Yellow Pines are \\sed one or two years old; White 

 Pines two, three or four years old; Catalpa one year old, etc. 



Paragraph XXI. Lifting seedlings from nursery beds. 



It is not advisable to plow the seedlings out of the ground or 

 to tear them out with tongs. In the case of species having small 

 reproductive power (Conifers, Beech, Birch) additional care is needed. 

 The spade should be used; and the plant should be lifted together 

 with large clumps of dirt which, thrown on the ground, collapse and 

 allow of safe extrication of the plants contained in the chimps. 



It is wise, carriage charges permitting, to allow some dirt to 

 stick to the roots. On more binding soil the hollow cylinder spade 

 might be used for lifting small plants. Plants should be well cov- 

 ered with burlaps, wet moss, dirt, etc.. at once after digging. Plants 

 left for a number of days between the plantation and the nursery 

 should be heeled in thoroughly, shinglelike, one row covering the 

 other, in a shady place. 



Paragraph XXII. Transportation of seedlings. 



If the roots are thoroughly protected, a voyage from Europe to 

 Biltmore, though it may take six weeks time, will not injure the 

 piants. Plants are loosely put together in bunches of one hundred to 

 two hundred pieces, are placed in baskets or open crates, the roots in 

 the center, the tips at the circumference. Layers of plants alternate 

 with layers of damp moss. Seedlings packed tightly, especially in 

 boxes, are apt to mould. 



Plants merely taken to a nearby plantation on wagons should 

 be well covered with branches, moss or sacks, and should be 

 sprinkled during transportation. Ball plants do not need packing 

 unless balls are very loose, when burlaps are necessary. One hun- 

 dred Yellow Pine ball plants, after Rankin. with balls ten inches 



