FOREST PLANTING AND SEEDING 69 



loam is preferable, of such consistency that it will stick to the 

 roots but will not harden on them, in case of a prolonged drought. 

 The plants should be carried to their destination either in pails 

 half filled with a mixture of mud and water or in baskets with 

 plenty of wet sphagnum moss to cover their roots. 



An important consideration is the size of the plants with which 

 the plantation is established. A small, inexpensive plant is 

 wanted, yet one hardy enough to withstand the severe conditions 



Fig. 22. — 



Nursery beds of 2-year-old pine seedlings. 



to which it is often exposed. What are known as two-year-old 

 seedlings and three-year-old transplants are the two grades 

 ordinarily employed in estabhshing commercial plantations. 

 The former has been grown for two years in a seed bed ; the latter 

 was transplanted after one or two years in a seed bed and has 

 grown one or two years since transplanting. Three-year-old 

 transplants cost approximately twice as much as two-year-old 

 seedlings and are much stronger plants. The present tendency 

 is to use seedlings only on the most favorable sites, and this is 

 the wiser course. 



The relative merits of pure and mixed forests have already 

 been discussed. It is safe to say that most of the planting in this 



