FOREST PLANTING AND SEEDING 67 



Where plowing is possible furrows may be run across a tract at 

 intervals of from six to ten feet and seed sown broadcast in these 

 furrows. Another modification is the so-called "seed-spot 

 method." In the application of this system, spots favorable for 

 germination are prepared, every six or eight feet, by scraping 

 away the sod for a foot square and loosening the soil. Seeds are 

 then sown in each spot and are pressed in by the foot or buried 

 at different depths according to the nature of the seed. De- 

 pressions made in this way or from plowing a furrow give the 

 seedhngs the benefit of more moisture than is available on level 

 ground, and free them for a brief period from the encroachments 

 of grass and weeds. 



Several good methods of planting are recognized. In New 

 England the tool most used is the mattock or old-fashioned grub 

 hoe, as it is often called. With this the sod must first be scraped 

 away for a space about a foot square, that the seedling may not 

 be harmed by grass or weeds. With a strong stroke of the mat- 

 tock the blade is driven well into the soil. Then by raising the 

 handle and turning it sHghtly to the right the soil is broken on 

 one side, while under the blade a cleft is made into which the 

 rootlets of the plant may be placed before the blade is removed. 

 The mattock is then taken out and the earth made firm with the 

 foot. This is called the sHt system of planting. Sometimes 

 with a Ught sod the prehminary scraping away may be omitted, 

 thus shortening the operation but decreasing the efliciency. 



A more thorough way of planting and one surer of results is 

 to scrape away the sod, and then to remove the earth from the 

 center of the square. In this hole the tree is set by hand or 

 with the aid of a trowel. Fine dirt should be packed tightly 

 around the plant. This and the sUt method are recommended 

 for ordinary work. In either case the emphasis must be placed 

 on the removal of the sod before the hole is made. 



In wet places where planting is desirable it is customary to 

 make mounds of earth and set the plants in the center of these. 

 This is, of course, a more expensive method. 



One precaution above all others must be taken in forest plant- 



