66 BULLETIN 470, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



farther apart. When the crate is tilled, moss should be placed upon 

 and damp burlap stretched over the roots of the top tier, and the (up 

 of the crate nailed on. When ready for shipment, the trees should 

 be packed solidly enough so that they will not jar or shake around. 

 If they are to undergo especially trying conditions "while en route, 

 each separate bundle may be bound in damp moss and this wrapped 

 with a layer of damp burlap. Trees packed in ways very similar to 

 this have been shipped from California to Hawaii, and have been on 

 the road for a month, yet arrived at their destination in perfect con- 

 dition. Packing should be intrusted only to careful and conscientious 

 men who can be supervised or who have had previous experience. 

 Cured moss is very likely to heat when packed closely and thus burn 

 the roots of the planting stock and kill or seriously injure it. 



PACKING CEATES. 



The general type of packing box in use at Forest Service nurseries 

 has a solid bottom and ends of seven-eighths-inch material and sides 

 and top of three-eighth-inch slatting. At the Fort Bayard Nursery 

 both ends and sides are made of lath slatting. At the Monument and 

 Bessey Nurseries the lath slatting formerty used on high shade 

 frames is used in one continuous strip for bottom, sides, and top of 

 the crates. In assembling crates, it has been found at the Pilgrim 

 Creek Nursery that cement-covered box nails hold better than ethers. 

 The essential point about packing crates is that they be cheap, light, 

 strong, easily assembled, well ventilated, and of a size suitable for 

 packing on a horse, which means that when filled they should not 

 weigh over 75 or 100 pounds. 



For local shipments the Monument Nursery has adopted woven 

 wire, cylindrical crates of two sizes, one 2 feet G inches in diameter 

 by 1 foot 6 inches deep and another 2 feet in diameter by 2 feet deep 

 (PI. II). One end of the cylinder is removable to permit packing. 

 The stock is packed with the tops to the outside and the roots to the 

 center around a strong iron rod which runs longitudinally up through 

 the center of the crate. When filled, the top is put on and clamped 

 in place by means of a washer and nut on the end of the rod as it 

 projects through the top. This crate has some advantages over 

 wooden ones. It is exceedingly strong, the trees can be packed more 

 rapidly, ih better shape, with less moss, and much more cheaply than 

 with the other style of crate, and ventilation of the tops is about per- 

 fect. On the other hand, those in use cost $7 each and are very 

 heavy, which makes the cost of shipping and their return high ; and 

 they require considerable space for storage. 



