148 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: MONTHLY BULLETIN 



METHODS OF PLANTING 



The most efficient methods of planting seedlings will depend 

 upon the species and size of the stock, the character of the soil, and 

 the preparation of the site. It may be well to state that no method 

 is efficient which does not get the tree well into the ground with 

 the soil firmly packed about the roots without bunching them too 

 much. To sacrifice these precautions for speed may result in dis- 

 appointment. The cleft method of planting may be employed in 

 loose soil or where the ground has been plowed. Under such con- 

 ditions it may be as satisfactory as digging holes, and is more 

 rapid. Clefts are made by driving a spade or mattock into the soil 

 the desired depth and working the handle back and forth once or 

 twice. The tree is dropped into the cleft, and the tool is then 

 driven into the ground a short distance to one side, and the soil 

 pushed against the roots. Firming the soil about the roots with 

 the feet completes the operation. In sandy soils it is sometimes 

 only necessary to make the cleft and place the tree back of the tool 

 in the cleft, after which the tool is removed and the soil firmed with 

 the feet. A spade is usually the most convenient tool for clefting 

 plowed ground, while a grubbing hoe or mattock will be preferred 

 in soil not prepared. Clefting should never be attempted in un- 

 prepared heavy clay soils, sod or grass land. It is adapted only to 

 loose soils and to trees which do not have large lateral roots. 



The hole method necessitates digging a hole with mattock or 

 spade large enough to take the roots of the tree without bunching. 

 Planting in sod, among brush, or in rocky soil necessitates digging 

 holes. It is also necessary in planting trees of larger size. In 

 dense sod land it is often advisable to skim off the sod a foot or so 

 square in order to have finer soil to cover the roots and thus insure 

 better moisture conditions for the tree while getting a start. 

 Packing the sods against the roots is likely to cause drying and 

 subsequent loss. 



The furrow method, in which furrows are plowed at desirable 

 intervals for rows, and the seedlings planted in the bottom of the 

 furrow with the loose soil thrown up can sometimes be used, but it 

 is not practicable in grass land where heavy sods are thrown up and 

 when there is little loose soil with which to cover the seedlings. In 

 loose soils this method can be used to advantage in direct seeding 

 of the nut-bearing trees. 



