NURSERY PRACTICE FOR PRAIRIE-PLAIXS PLAXTIXG 123 



preferably under pressure, is desirable but not essential. If the 

 other requirements are met. the site will require very little water 

 which can be hauled in as needed. 



A deep sandy soil with adequate surface and subsurface drainage 

 is of first importance, since the soil is the storage medium for the 

 stock. Sandy soil when washed in or firmly tamped settles closely 

 around the seedlings, filling up all the larger air pockets. With 

 adequate drainage, a sandy site will not become waterlogged, thus 

 making it possible to heel in or remove stock at any time that the 

 ground is not frozen. A further reason for selecting well-drained 



f TP 



a 



I 



Figure 49.- Ouim/c storage in heel-iD beds. 



sites is that alternate freezing and thawing of waterlogged heel-in 

 beds may cause serious damage to the stock. 



\\\ such a heel-in storage plot as that shown in figure 49. the length 

 and number of individual beds are limited only by the space available. 

 Figure 50 gives the lay-out of a plot containing six beds 10 feet wide 

 and 150 feet long. Beds of this width will generally accomodate 20 

 bundles of 50 seedlings, or 1,000 seedlings, in each row. thus simpli- 

 fying all stock records. One such bed, of, which six are shown in the 

 plan, allows approximately 1.500 square feet of bed space, and accomo- 

 dates about 150.000 seedlings of usable size. 



A 40-foot turnrow should be left at the end of the beds, and a 

 16-foot roadway on both sides of each 2-bed unit to facilitate loading 

 and unloading of trucks. An 8-foot alley left between the two beds 

 in a unit permits increasing the width of the rows when more than 

 10 feet is necessary to accomodate 20 bundles. This alley will also 

 allow for drainage and working space, and furnish a source of soil 

 for mounding over the beds. As a matter of convenience in getting 

 around the beds, a 3- or 4-foot cross path is made every 50 feet. 



