MAKING MONEY OUT OF FORESTRY 73 
chosen with an eye to their salability and finally upon 
the type of soil to be planted. 
Hardwoods, especially tap-rooted species, require 
deep, fertile, well drained soil for good growth. Conifers 
draw less upon the fertility and moisture contents of 
the soil than do broadleaf trees. Among conifers, how- 
ever, there is‘a marked difference, as red and jack pine 
can grow on dry sandy soils where spruce and hemlock 
would soon perish. 
When the frost is out of the ground is usually the 
best time for planting although if the ground is not 
subject to heaving in the spring, fall planting may be 
practiced. The seedlings and transplants are dug from 
the beds with « fork, tied in bundles and packed in large 
hampers with wet moss around their roots and in this 
condition are shipped to the area to be planted. 
On arrival the bundles are loosened, the roots dipped 
in a puddle of thin mud and then the bundles are laid 
on the side of a sloping trench with earth firmly packed 
about their roots. This process is called “heeling in” 
and is intended to keep the delicate root hairs from 
drying out. 
The planting crew consists of two men as a unit, one 
carrying a mattock with which he slices off the sod 
and digs the hole, the second man carrying a pail with 
several inches of thin mud in the bottom to keep the 
little tree roots constantly moist. Back and forth across 
the field they go, the row of mattock men keeping them- 
selves in a straight line by sighting on a rock or stump 
some distance ahead. Behind them come the bucket 
men putting the tree in the hole and firming the soil 
around the roots first with their fists and later with 
their feet. The two most important points to remember 
are that the roots must not be allowed to dry out and 
