A :M E R I C A N SYLVICULTURE 



the vegetable mould underneath. The mound is covered with sods 

 to prevent erosion. The method Morks well on very dry and hard 

 ground. About 100 i)lants are planted per day and per man after 

 this method. Its advantages are: 



I. The vegetable cover of the soil, by its disintegration, fur- 

 nishes food for the rootlets. 



II. The quality of the soil surounding the roots is very good. 



III. The soil in the mounds is kept moist with condensed 

 atmospheric vapor, owing to its greater porosity. 



IV. The planter is not likely to plant the seedling too deep. 

 The method is also applied on very wet soil. The mounds may 



be replaced by ridges. Experiments have shown that planting in 

 mounds does better in years of drought than planting in holes. 



Modifications of the Manteuffel method are in common use. 

 Ordinary soil dug out at the planting site may be used to make the 

 mound; or, where there are heavy sods, a sod is turned upside down 

 and left to rot for a year. The mound thus made is rich in plant 

 food resulting from the disintegration of root fibres and vegetable 

 matter. 



Disadvantages of mound planting are: 



a. The mounds are easily washed away on slopes unless under 

 cover of mother trees. 



b. The best soil is washed out if the mound is not covered with 

 sods, stones or brush. 



c. Insects and mice find hiding and breeding places in the sod- 

 covered mounds. 



d. Mound planting is very expensive. 



J. Ballplanting, with Charles Heyer's hollow cylinder 

 spade. 



The cylinder spade can be used to best advantage on binding 

 soil. It lifts the plant (seedlings, notably conifers one or two years 

 old) from the nursery Avithout loss of roots and prepares for it a 

 hole on the ground to be planted having the exact form of the ball 

 of dirt adhering to the roots. 



The method is particularly safe and seems particularly adapted 

 for prairie planting since it protects the seedling before, during and 

 after the act of planting; since it prevents the seedling from loosing 

 its foothold in the soil under the influence of high winds; since it 

 allows of planting at almost any season of the year. 



On stony soil, the cylinder spade cannot be used. Edward 

 Heyer's " cone spade " facilitates the transfer of larger seedlings 

 with heavier balls of dirt from the nursery or from the woods to 

 new plantations. 



