THE FOREST NURSERY 317 



spaced and much deeper and more uniformly planted than when 

 they are pricked out singly by hand. 



A stringing table or rack upon which the board rests while the 

 plants are inserted in the grooves is used with all except the com- 

 bined transplanting and trenching board. This should be of suit- 

 able height to permit the stringers to place the plants in the 

 grooves most rapidly and with the least expenditure of energy. 

 The seedlings are kept moist in pails or baskets suspended under 

 the center of the table within easy reach of the stringers. A few 

 seedlings are taken in the left hand by each stringer and rapidly 

 transferred with the right hand to the notches in the board. The 

 stringer at the right end of the board begins at that end, while the 

 stringer at the left end begins in the center of the board and strings 

 toward the left. Care should be taken to adjust the plants in the 

 notches so that when finally planted they are set at a uniform 

 depth. The table should be enclosed at the back, the two ends, 

 and above by a canvas or burlap screen to protect the young 

 seedlings from the sun and wind. 



51. Types of Transplanting Boards. Rath's transplanting 

 board, in which the plants are held in the notches by means of a 

 string, and a somewhat similar board described by Fischbach 1 are 

 recommended by European authorities as among the best of 

 this type. A transplanting board on this principle has been used 

 to some extent in some of the nurseries on the National Forests 

 (Fig. 83). It is 6 feet long, 6 inches wide, and 1 inch thick. 

 One edge of the board is beveled down to \ inch in thickness 

 and notches cut in it at intervals of from 1 to 3 inches, depend- 

 ing upon the spacing desired, and approximately 1 inch deep. 

 The board is suspended on hooks on one side of the stringing 

 table so that the notches reach above the surface of the table. 

 The trees are "threaded" into the notches at right angles to the 

 surface of the board and held in place by a heavy string drawn 

 taut while being carried to the trench and planted. When the 

 board is in place the roots hang against the vertical wall of the 

 trench. Soil is filled in about them and thoroughly firmed, after 

 which the string is loosened and the board removed. 



The simplest type of transplanting board is the following, which 

 also serves as a trenching board and has long been in use in Europe. 



1 Fischbach, C. von: Erne neue Pflanzlatte. (Allgemeine Forst- u. Jagd- 

 Zeitung, S. 7-11. 1884.) 



