PIT PLANTING 45 



L notch. — Is similar to the T notch, except that 

 an L is formed instead of a T. 



The T notch system and its modifications are cheap 

 and quick, but destroy the root system of the plants, 

 which are necessarily bent to one side with the roots 

 knotted into a ball. Plants put in in this fashion are 

 greatly checked in their growth and may on poor 

 soils show scarcely any height growth or development 

 for several years after planting. They are also much 

 more susceptible to wind damage (this latter danger 

 increasing instead of decreasing with the growth in 

 height and age of tree), insects and fungi. The system 

 and its modifications are probably one of the chief 

 causes of the heavy windfall damage experienced 

 in these islands and especially in Scotland. As will be 

 shown in a comparison of first costs of planting work, 

 it is at least not cheaper than one of the forms of pit 

 planting. It has therefore nothing to recommend it 

 and should be discontinued. 



(c) Pit Planting. — This method is adapted to plants 

 of all sizes. The tools which may be used for the work 

 are the common spade, cylindrical spade, semi-circular 

 and semi-conical spades, trowel, and the spiral spade. 

 The object of pit planting is to place the plant in an 

 enlarged hole or pit with its root system in a natural 

 position. The various methods in force fulfil these 

 conditions. 



The common spade, and various modifications in the 

 shape of the tool, is used to make a hole of sufficient 

 size to take the roots of the plant either naked or with 

 a ball of earth. The hole should be made of the same 

 width at the bottom as at the top in order that the 



