9 



Planting sites should be prepared as thoroughly as for field crops. 

 The use of seed boxes allows the seedlings to be transported to the 

 planting sites without any interference with their growth. At the 

 time of planting the boxes should be carried down the rows and the 

 trees taken up, one by one, as required. Seedlings should be care- 

 fully handled in planting in order to avoid injuring them. By taking 

 up a small block of soil with each plant, the plants may be set in the 

 ground with very slight disturbance to their roots. For planting on 

 well-prepared sites a small trowel is the best implement to use in 

 lifting seedlings from seed boxes and setting them out. Under aver- 

 age conditions a planter should set out from 500 to 800 seedlings a 

 day. 



Blue gum trees should be set 8 feet apart each way. Most other 

 eucalypts should be planted 6 by 6 feet apart. This comparatively 

 close spacing is desirable in order that forest conditions may be estab- 

 lished as speedily as possible with straight trees, clear of branches. 



Eucalypts should not be planted in mixture with other trees, and 

 when different eucalypts are used they should be planted in separate 

 blocks. 



CULTIVATION AND CARE. 



Blank areas frequently occur in young plantations where the young 

 trees have been killed by late frosts or have died during the first 

 summer from drought or from the attacks of small animals. The loss 

 of an occasional tree is not a matter of concern, but where large and 

 frequent blanks occur replanting is essential to secure a full stand. 

 Seedlings should be reset as early as possible in the life of a plantation 

 or they will be overtopped and suppressed as soon as the rapid height 

 growth of the older stock begins. 



The long period of drought during summer and fall in California is 

 unfavorable for the growth of young trees. Soil moisture becomes 

 deficient, and trees, if neglected, are likely to die from drought. Young 

 plantations should be cultivated as thoroughly as an orchard or field 

 crop. By this means weed growth will be kept down and the trees 

 stimulated to rapid growth in height. Cultivation should begin 

 toward the close of the rainy season, and should be repeated at inter- 

 vals of about a month until the fall rains commence. During the 

 second year it should be continued until the plantation becomes too 

 dense for easy passage down the rows. Blue gum plantations will 

 establish cover over the soil in from one to two years. The soil will 

 then be amply protected from drying out and cultivation will no 

 longer be required. 



Eucalyptus plantations require protection from injury by animals 

 and fire. Stands are considerably damaged by cattle tramping and 

 packing the soil. For this reason plantations should be fenced. 



[Cir. 59] 



