d. Erect vs. Horizontal Planting 



The established practice has been to set planting stock in the same 

 erect position used in transplanting tree seedlings or tobacco. All avail- 

 able planting equipment is designed to plant in this manner. In the two 

 1965 tests shown in Table 15, a treatment was included which involved plant- 

 ing pruned stock horizontally in a furrow. In both tests there was little 

 difference in total first-year growth between this method and the normal 

 method. During the growing season, the furrow method actually produced more 

 new shoots per row, but total growth was not increased since many were slower 

 in emerging. With horizontal planting, many of the new shoots emerged from 

 nodes which were located various distances from the base but kept moist by 

 covering in the furrow. 



This finding would indicate that there is considerable latitude in 

 positioning planting stock of this species, and if furrow planting were 

 better mechanized, burying the plants deeper than is now practiced would 

 be permissible. 



e. Clay Dip 



For some time the Forest Nursery has dipped the roots of tree seed- 

 lings in a clay slurry prior to packaging and shipping to prevent dessication. 

 This method was tried on beachgrass planting stock, planted at several lo- 

 cations in the spring of 1963. Where conditions were favorable, there was 

 no apparent benefit, but on Bod i e Island, under very dry conditions, the clay 

 dip was highly beneficial. Consequently, clay dip was adopted for all plant- 

 ing stock as insurance against poor planting conditions or careless handling 

 of plants prior to planting. It is quite inexpensive and can occasionally 

 mean the difference between success and failure. 



f . Th i nn i ng 



One small trial, 2 replications, was established 12 January 1965 to 

 study the effect of thinning existing stands of American beachgrass to obtain 

 planting stock. This was done on a two-year-old, machine-planted stand that 

 had been well fertilized. The treatments consisted of pulling by hand vary- 

 ing portions of the standing clumps as described in Table 16. 



From this one trial, it appears that removal of planting stock from 

 a vigorous wel I -f ert i I ized stand of this grass has little or no effect on 

 regrowth the next season. As under nursery conditions, the rhizomes left 

 behind are able to completely replenish the stand. However, it should be 

 remembered that this practice does temporarily deprive the area of cover. 

 Also, weak or unfertilized stands would be very unlikely to restore them- 

 selves so readily under such treatment. 



36 



