Figure 1 — The study site near Wilson Peak after thorough site prepara- 

 tion and shortly before planting. 



systems, and many of the roots were stripped during 

 lifting from the nursery beds. 



Thorough site preparation was done mechanically on 

 each site, and all five areas were fenced to exclude cattle 

 (fig. 1). Trees of both stock types were auger-planted at 

 the same time. Air and soil temperatures and moisture 

 conditions were generally favorable. 



The study was installed with a randomized complete 

 block design comprising 10 blocks per site. Each block 

 contained two plots, one with the bareroot treatment, the 

 other with the container treatment. Trees were spaced 6 

 by 6 ft (1.8 by 1.8 m). Each plot contained two rows of 10 

 trees. In other words, 20 container-grown and 20 bareroot 

 seedlings were planted in each block. 



Tree survival and heights were measured in the fall of 

 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985. In addition, two trees were 

 dug from each plot after the fifth growing season to in- 

 spect the roots for growth and form. For each tree that 

 was dug, we calculated a rooting index. This was done by 

 laying the tree on a 1-inch grid and counting the numbers 

 of squares that were intersected by one or more roots. We 

 wanted to account for the third dimension of the root 

 system geometry, so after we measured a seedling the 

 first time, we rotated the stem 90 degrees and measured 

 it once more. We averaged the two measurements to 

 calculate the rooting index for the seedling. This was done 

 for three zones within the upper 12 inches of the root 

 systems: 0-4 inches below the ground surface, 4-8 inches, 

 and 8-12 inches (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm). 



RESULTS 



After five growing seasons the container-grown ponder- 

 osa pine has performed as well as or better than the bare- 

 root stock on all five sites (table 3). Survival ranged from 



Table 3 — Comparison of mean fifth-year heights and survival of 

 container and bareroot ponderosa pine planted on five 

 sites in the Dixie National Forest. Mean comparisons 

 according to Gabriel (1978) 





Survival 



Fifth-year 

 height 





Percent 



cm 



Allen's Canyon 







Bareroot 



91* 



28.1* 



Containerized 



98 



31.7 



Dave's Hollow 







Bareroot 



64** 



19.6** 



Containerized 



84 



25.7 



Mammoth Cave 







Bareroot 



91 



37.4 



Containerized 



92 



37.8 



Mammoth Creek Road 







Bareroot 



66* 



26.3** 



Containerized 



78 



33.2 



Wilson Peak 







Bareroot 



84** 



31.9 



Containerized 



96 



34.3 



'Pairs of means are significantly different (a = 0.05) 

 "Pairs of means are significantly different (a = 0.01) 



