SETTING OUT TREES. 



13 



vantages of shipmenfrmay be avoided, some expense saved, and the 

 time for planting considerably extended. The la>t point is often of 

 importance because it may be inconvenient to drop other work to give 

 a shipment of treesthe immediate attention that they require. Home- 

 grown stock can be left in the nursery until a favorable opportunity 

 for setting out the trees occurs. 



It is always well to choose a wet or cloudy day for transplanting, 

 but if the work must be done in dry weather the nursery beds or 

 trenches should he thoroughly soaked a few days before moving the 

 tree-. 



When a tree i> removed from the ground its roots should be imme- 

 diately plunged into a mixture of earth and water about as thick as 

 cream. This mixture is known as bi puddle." and is one of the most 

 important requisites 

 to successful tree 

 planting. The pud- 

 dle may be prepared 

 in a large tub and 

 drawn on a sled 

 along the row where 

 the digging is in 

 progress. 



N o^- 



# .;." 



Fig. 1. — Heeling in young trees. 



HEELIXG IN. 



If seedlings are 

 received from a 

 distance, the boxes 

 should be opened 



immediately, the trees unpacked, and their roots dipped into a puddle. 

 After this the trees should be " heeled in " according to the following 

 method until ready to be planted in the field. (See fig. 1.) 



Dig a trench deep enough to bury the roots and part of the stems. 

 The trench should run east and west, with its south bank somewhat 

 sloping. A layer of trees should be placed in the trench on its sloping- 

 side, their tops toward the south, and their roots and stems covered 

 2 or 3 inches deep with fresh earth dug from the opposite side of the 

 trench. A second layer of trees should then be put in and covered as 

 before and the process repeated until all the trees have been heeled in. 

 In case of conifers care should be taken not to bury the foliage and 

 to -hade the young trees with brush or with a shelter constructed 

 of laths. 



a Bulletin No. 29, The Forest Nursery, gives inueh valuable information on 

 this subject, and may he obtained by addressing The Forester, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. 



