38 

 a. Seeds at stake. 



In this system frequently a few seeds are put in the 

 soil. Several planters assured me that this method of 

 planting would be preferred by them, if vermin, such as 

 ants or rats did not feed upon the seeds, and therefore, 

 destroy a great part of them. There are other objections 

 to planting seeds at stake; it takes a longer time 

 before a mature plant is obtained from the seeds and 

 upkeep must be continued longer, whereas, if basket 

 plants or stumps are used for planting, the reserve 

 material contained in the young plant would carry it 

 on, even although cutting the stump causes a temporary 

 stand-still in the growth of the plant. Furthermore, a 

 great objection against planting of seeds in the open 

 ground is, that the seedlings cannot be selected as with 

 planting in nurseries, where weakly plants may be elimi- 

 nated. It is very desirable that the tree trunks should 

 grow up quite straight, (see fig. 15). 



b. Basket Plants. 



\ 



Planting in baskets has the advantage that the young* 



plants continue their growth immediately and grow up 

 quite straight ; still on the other hand, under this system 

 younger and smaller plants are obtained than with stumps ; 

 the latter are generally about nine months old ; whereas, 

 basket plants are only a few months old when planted 

 out. The baskets are planted entirely in the hole, which 

 is then filled, it is not necessary to tear open the basket ; 

 in the roughly twisted bamboo there are enough openings 

 for the side-roots to grow out. An advantage of basket 



