66 BULLETIN 479, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
farther apart. When the crate is filled, moss should be placed upon 
and damp burlap stretched over the roots of the top tier, and the top 
of the crate nailed on. When ready for shipment, the trees should 
be packed solidly enough so that they will not jar or shake around. 
If they are to undergo especially trying conditions while en route, 
each separate bundle may be bound in damp moss and this wrapped 
with a layer of damp burlap. Trees packed in ways very similar to 
this have been shipped from California to Hawaii, and have been on 
the road for a month, yet arrived at their destination in perfect con- 
dition. Packing should be intrusted only to careful and conscientious 
men who can be supervised or who have had previous experience. 
Cured moss is very likely to heat when packed closely and thus burn 
the roots of the planting stock and kill or seriously injure it 
PACKING CEATES. 
The general type of packing box in use at Forest Service nurseries 
has a solid bottom and ends of seven-eighths-inch material and sides 
and top of three-eighth-inch slatting. At the Fort Bayard Nursery 
both ends and sides are made of lath slatting. At the Monument and 
Bessey Nurseries the lath slatting formerly used on high shade 
frames is used in one continuous strip for bottom, sides, and top of 
the crates. In assembling crates, it has been found at the Pilgrim 
Creek Nursery that cement-covered box nails hold better than others. 
The essential point about packing crates is that the}^ be cheap, light, 
strong, easily assembled, well ventilated, and of a size suitable for 
packing on a horse, which means that when filled they should not 
weigh over 75 or 100 pounds. 
For local shipments the Monument Nursery has adopted woven 
wire, cylindrical crates of two sizes, one 2 feet 6 inches in diameter 
by 1 foot 6 inches deep jmd another 2 feet in diameter by 2 feet deep 
(PI. II). One end of the cylinder is removable to permit packing. 
The stock is packed with the tops to the outside and the roots to the 
center around a strong iron rod which runs longitudinally up through 
the center of the crate. When filled, the top is put on and clamped 
in place bj^ means of a washer and nut on the end of the rod as it 
projects through the top. This crate has some advantages over 
wooden ones. It is exceedingly strong, the trees can be packed more 
rapidly, in better shape, with less moss, and much more cheaply than 
with the other style of crate, and ventilation of the tops is about per- 
fect. On the other hand, those in use cost $7 each and are very 
heavy, which makes the cost of shipping and their return high ; and 
they require considerable space for storage. 
