FOREST PLANTING IN THE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION. 9 



same time, they were soon so reduced in number that only a mini- 

 mum of damage occurred. Poisoned baits recommended by the 

 United States Biological Survey were frequently used. 



Grasshoppers thrive best in semiarid regions and do most damage 

 during several successive dry years. They do not prefer conifers, 

 but eat both the leaves and young bark of nursery stock when other 

 green foods are no longer available. At such times they may become 

 so serious a menace as to require control measures. At the Pocatello 

 Nursery these insects for two seasons required intensive control, 

 which was undertaken during the early wingless period of the grass- 

 hopper's life, as the young ones are more susceptible to poisoning 

 and are less nomadic before they can fly. 



Maybeetle larvae, aphids, and birds have at times taken considera- 

 ble toll at the different nurseries. These are general pests and their 

 damage and methods of control are essentially no different in the 

 intermountain region than elsewhere, although they are probably 

 less destructive here and more easily controlled. 



DISTRIBUTION' OF PLANTING STOCK. 



In case the planting stock should be needed for early planting at a 

 lower altitude than the nursery, some artificial means of removing 

 the snow was necessary. Its natural disappearance, which takes 

 place about May 10, was hastened several weeks by sowing black 

 soil over the surface at the rate of about 1 bushel per 1,000 square 

 feet. (PI. Ill, fig. 1.) Soil to be used for this purpose was obtained 

 during the preceding summer when thoroughly dry, and was stored 

 under cover. 



Digging, grading, and bunching the stock intended for field use 

 were done as soon as the soil had dried off sufficiently in the spring. 

 The trees were lifted by means of a spade or spading fork thrust into 

 the soil to a depth of 7 to 10 inches depending on the species and the 

 size of the trees. One or more pickers followed the spade man, 

 pulling up the trees, grading out all small, weak, or injured ones, 

 counting and tying them loosely in bunches of 25 or 50, according to 

 the size of the trees. If the shipment was to be made promptly the 

 bunches were only temporarily heeled-in; otherwise, they were 

 placed in the storage shed. Under favorable conditions, the work of 

 digging, bunching, grading, and heeling-in was done at the rate of 

 6,000 transplants per man per day. 



Since most of the planting sites were located at high elevations 

 and opened from two to four weeks later than the nursery, it was 

 necessary to store the trees to keep them from growing until needed 

 in the field. The floor of a frame shed was covered with a 10-inch 

 layer of sand and gravelly soil in which the loosely tied bundles of 

 trees were heeled-in as fast as taken out of the nursery. They were 

 then covered with a 2-foot layer of snow from a near-by drift, with 

 a 3-inch layer of sawdust on the top. After a storage period of 26 

 days, the trees were found to be in excellent condition, without any 

 signs of growth. 



The burlap method of packing stock for shipment was adopted 

 subsequent to 1917, replacing the former method of packing the trees 

 in wooden crates. (PL III, fig. 2.) The burlap roll is far more 

 economical, and at the same time trees packed by this method with- 



91913°— 25 2 



