NURSERY PRACTICE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 45 
Root pruning is sometimes practiced during the first season that 
the plants are in seed beds, but ordinarily it should be done about 
the time growth is to start, or shortly after, during the second or 
third season. This gives the plants ample time to recuperate before 
the end of the season. There is little doubt that by root pruning 
plants can be produced which will prove more suitable for field 
planting under adverse conditions than unpruned seedling stock. 
On the other hand, it is not certain that it will produce stock as 
suitable for planting on the poorest sites as transplants, and it re- 
sults in an increase in the mortality of the seedlings. To decrease 
the possibility of losses the beds should be watered heavily before 
and again immediately after the operation. 
TRANSPLANTING. 
In transplanting, seedlings are transferred from seed beds to other 
beds, where they are given a uniform spacing and much more grow- 
ing space. 
OBJECT AND ADVISABILITY. 
Transplanting, like root pruning, has for its object the production 
of stock which is most likely to succeed in field planting, particularly 
on inhospitable sites. Its effect is to check height growth of the 
plants somewhat and to stimulate development of the finer, lateral 
feeding roots (Pis. XI to XV). In the vast majority of cases such 
stock is more suitable for planting under unfavorable conditions than 
seedlings. The conditions on much of the area to be planted on the 
National Forests are more or less inhospitable; the area is so large 
that rapid planting is desirable both to cover the ground and to 
reduce costs; and to conduct the planting operations it is often im- 
possible to secure other than unskilled, careless, and indifferent labor, 
which means that much of the stock will be poorly planted. These 
factors make imperative the production of stock best suited to with- 
stand them. Since transplanting achieves this result, its general 
advisability becomes apparent. 
As the greatest single expense of nursery operation, however, comes 
in transplating, this operation may be inadvisable in regions such 
as northern Idaho, where experience indicates that success may be 
achieved with seedling stock. Comparative tests of the two classes 
of stock for each species and region are necessary to determine the 
final practice in this regard. 
SEASON. i 
In transplanting, the roots of seedlings lose their contact with the 
soil of the seed beds and do not function again until they become 
established in the soil of the transplant beds. During the growing 
