108 MISC. PUBLICATION 4 3 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



2. Lateral roots exceeding 4 to 5 inches in length are cut back to 

 this length by the second man, who follows behind the puller with 

 hand shears or knife. 



3. Grading and counting is performed in one operation by the 

 grader, who selects the usable seedlings in bunches of 10 from those 

 spread out before him. As each bunch of ten is deposited on the 

 ground, he proceeds to select and count 10 seedlings for the next 



bunch. Usable seedlings 

 are selected largely on the 

 basis of caliper of stem and 

 development of root sys- 

 tem. Seedlings with badly 

 stripped or broken root 

 systems or split stems are 

 rejected along with the 

 undersized trees. It will be 

 found that certain men can 

 learn quickly to estimate 

 with surprising accuracy the 

 caliper of seedlings and in 

 short order develop an 

 appraising eye in selecting 

 usable stock. More details 

 on the basis for field grading 

 of nursery stock will be 

 given later. 



4. Following the grader, 

 an assembler groups the 

 bunches of 10 seedlings into 

 bundles of 50, the number 

 that has proved to be the 

 most satisfactory to handle 

 for 1- or 2-year-old stock 

 used in windbreak planting. 

 Some care is necessary to 

 keep the root collars even 

 in each bundle. The bun- 

 dles of 50 are then carried to the tier for tying. The assembler also 

 groups the ungraded smaller trees into bundles and carries them to 

 the tier. These are heeled in separately so that the better trees may 

 later be selected for lining out. 



5. The tier twists moisture-resistant tarred lath yarn twice around 

 the bundle (double-wrap tie) or once around (single-wrap tie), 

 preparatory to heeling in (fig. 39). He must vary his method to fit 

 best the sizes and shapes of the bundles, and especially to avoid 

 bruising the bark of the seedlings. 



The double-warp is preferred for a single tie, since it will withstand 

 more handling than the single-wrap tie and is also less likely to 

 bruise or girdle the bark of the seedling when drawn tight. For 

 average seedling sizes of most species one good double-wrap tie per 

 bundle near the root collar is sufficient to prevent the bundle from 

 coming apart when handled. For larger bundles, two single-wrap 

 ties, one near the root collar and one near the top of the bundle, 



1 



Figure 39. — Methods of tying seedling bundles: 

 Left, bundle tied twice with the single-wrap 

 tie; right, bundle tied once with double- 

 wrap tie. 



