130 



PRIN^CIPLES OF AMERICAN FORESTRY. 



oughly water-soaked. It has the advantage of not heat- 

 ing and yet retaining moisture for a long time. 



Nursery Stock in Transit is liable to several injuries. 

 One of the most common is for it to become too dry and 

 in this way lose its vitality, and yet it often happens 

 in shipping nursery stock that is to be several weeks 

 in transit that it is best to pack it so dry that the plants 

 will perhaps shrivel a little, since if packed moist it will 



Fig. 44. — Plants assembled together for packing in a bale. 



often decay. When moss is to be used for packages 

 that are liable to be a month or more on the way, it should 

 be thoroughly dried so that there will be little moisture 

 apparent in handling it. In such cases the boxes should be 

 thoroughly lined with paper before they are packed. 

 Paper lining for boxes is also very desirable when nur- 

 sery stock is to be shipped during excessively cold weather, 

 as it aids greatly in keeping out frost. 



In shipping nursery stock in warm weather it may 

 sometimes be desirable in the case of evergreens to pack 

 the roots in moist moss and leave the tops exposed, ship- 

 ping the box without any cover, or if covered at all, using 

 only burlap or similar material. In packing such a box 



