Though the amount of labor necessary to harvest, process, and plant may 

 vary widely from project to project, experience from previous studies is use- 

 ful as a general guide to estimate labor requirements. Table 4 summarizes 

 several estimates of labor requirements for various species and propagule 

 types. 



Table 4. Man-hours required to harvest, process, and plant 1,000 

 planting units. 



Species-Operation 





Plant materials 







Sprigs 



Seedlings 



Plugs 



Smooth cordgrass 









Harvest and process 









With plow 



2.5I 



- 



- 



With backhoe 



3.3I 



- 



_ 



By hand 



5.0I 



I6.72 



- 



Planting : 









With tractor 



2.8^ 



- 



- 



By hand 



5.5I 



- 



- 



With power auger 



- 



62 



- 



Pacific cordgrass 









Harvest and process 



10. 0^ 



49. 03 



29.13 



Plant 



22. 0^ 



37.03 



57.03 



Lyngbye's sedge 



Harvest, process, and plant 



9.6' 



Tufted halrgrass 



Harvest, process, and plant 



8.7' 



^Woodhouse, Seneca, and Broome (1974). 



^Estimated from advertised costs of 3- to 4-month potted nursery 

 seedling. Environmental Concern, Inc., 1979. Assumed labor to be $15 

 per hour and overhead rate of 100 percent. 



3u.S. Army Engineer District, San Francisco (1976) (cohesive 

 sediments) . 



"^U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (1978). 



Smooth cordgrass sprigs can be harvested, processed, and planted by hand 

 at a rate of about 10 man-hours per 1,000 plants. Sprigs of Lyngbye's sedge 

 and tufted halrgrass can be planted at about the same rate. Sprigs of Pacific 

 cordgrass appear to be more difficult to plant, as indicated in Table 4. 

 However, the Pacific cordgrass planting (U.S. Army Engineer District, San 

 Francisco, 1976) was done in cohesive sediments which greatly slowed the 

 planting operations. The preparing and planting of nursery seedlings is more 

 than twice as time consuming as using sprigs — about 23 man-hours per 1,000 

 planting units. Using plugs is at least three times more time consuming than 

 sprigs. 



82 



