WHITE PINE UNDER FOREST MANAGEMENT. 
55 
Where the soil and climatic conditions especially favor the growth 
of seedlings, the less expensive method of "slit planting" may be 
used. In this the roots of the seedling are dropped into a slit in the 
soil made by inserting a spade and slightly working it forward or 
backward. The soil is then packed about the roots by reinserting 
the spade 2 or 3 inches from the plant and closing the previous slit. 
The soil is then firmly pressed down with the foot. This method 
is a very rapid one, but the roots are left in a crowded and unnatural 
position, which may for years interfere with the thrift of the plant. 
The number of trees which can be set out per day varies with the 
nature of the ground cover, the texture of the soil, the character 
of the labor employed, and the degree of care exercised in the work. 
On fresh loamy or sandy soils, without a low herbaceous ground 
cover, two capable workmen should be able to set out 1,000 of the 
2-1 transplants a. day. With unfavorable conditions, as when the 
ground is full of tough roots, the same men might plant only 500 
seedlings. 
The most common and probably the best spacing for white-pine 
transplants is 6 by 6 feet. In especially favorable situations, where 
growth will be rapid, a spacing of 8 by 8 feet may be used, while in 
less favorable ones the plants should be closer together, either 5 by 5 
feet or 4 by 4 feet. The number of plants per acre spaced at different 
distances is shown in Table 18. Where pruning is to be practiced, a 
spacing of 10 by 10 feet, or 12 by 12 feet, has been recommended. 
Table 18. — Number of trees required to plant an acre, using rectangular method of 
spacing. 
Distance 
between 
the rows. 
Number of trees when distance apart in the row is— 
4 feet. 
5 feet. 
6 feet. 
7 feet. 
8 feet. 
Feet. 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
2,722 
2,178 
1,815 
1,556 
1,361 
1,742 
1,452 
1,244 
1,089 
1,210 
1,037 
907 
888 
777 
680 
The cost of planting per thousand plants varies with the same fac- 
tors which influence the daily rate of planting. The cost per acre 
varies with these and also with the number of seedlings planted per 
acre. Tables 19 and 20 give the cost per thousand and per acre, 
respectively, of planting stock costing $3, $4, and $6 per thousand 
when the average planting rate per man is 300, 500, and 600 plants 
per day, with different daily wage rates. The average planting rate 
is based on. the total time consumed in the work, including digging 
up or unpacking transplants, carrying from nursery to field, heeling- 
in, etc. 
