REFORESTATION ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 25 



per day, and as many as 1,000 under favorable conditions. On good 

 soils and in regions very favorable to tree growth, as in Washing- 

 ton, Oregon, and western Idaho and Montana, this method has 

 proved very successful. It is not yet known, however, that it will be 

 successful in regions or on sites not particularly favorable to tree 

 growth. The hole opened up is not large enough or deep enough to 

 allow the proper distribution of the roots ; it usually does not remove 

 much of the competing herbaceous growth; and it does not permit 

 especial attention being given to the packing of the soil around the 

 roots. 



TRENCHER METHOD. 



The trencher method is simply a modification of the slit method. 

 One of its best features is breaking up heavy sod or herbaceous 

 growth and thus freeing the seedlings from root competition and 

 excessive shading. The field trencher and its use have been described 

 as follows: 1 



The trencher consists of a heavy V-shaped shoe fastened on an ordinary steel 

 plow beam and supplied with handles similar to plow handles. The shoe is 

 24 inches long, 12 inches deep, and is made V-shaped by riveting plates of steel 

 together at the bottom and separating them 3 inches at the top. These plates 

 are welded and drawn out into a thin sloping edge in front, the lower part of 

 which is widened into a broad nose. The nose draws the shoe into the soil, 

 and a small horizontal plate attached to the bottom of the shoe serves to hold 

 it to an even depth. 



With a strong slope from the nose to the top of the shoe in front, roots and 

 trash in the soil that are not severed when the shoe strikes them are inclined 

 to be raised above it and then slide off at one side of the beam without injuring 

 the trench. The length of the shoe is such as to cause the sides of the trench 

 to be sufficiently troweled to make them stand up until the planter comes along 

 to put in the tree. The use of a short shoe results in the trench caving down 

 and half filling in many places almost immediately after the trencher has 

 passed. 



The trencher is drawn by three horses, and in its use on the Kansas and 

 Nebraska National Forests the trench is usually made in a furrow turned with 

 a sidehill or ordinary plow. A man with a planting basket follows the trencher 

 and puts trees into the trench, being careful to have the roots well extended 

 toward the bottom. As the crowns of the trees are brought to the proper height, 

 the planter sets his foot at a slight angle to the trench, caving the side in 

 against the roots. Men with long-handled tampers follow, setting the soil 

 firmly against the trees, and close the trench between the trees to reduce the 

 chance of evaporation. A gang of 10 to 15 men is required to keep up with 

 the trencher and can plant from 12,000 to 20,000 trees per day. 



On the Kansas National Forest this scheme was brought nearer 

 to perfection by the use of a riding trencher, which combines a lister 

 plow with a trencher and thus saves the expense of one driver and 

 two horses. 



1 Mast, William H. In American Forestry, Vol. XVIII, No. 5. 

 62479°— Bull. 475—17 4 



