44 
BULLETIN 475, r. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTURE. 
PLANTING TOOLS. 
The planting tool most commonly used on the National Forests is 
some type of the grub hoe or mattock. The spade, ax, and field 
trencher are used onl}^ slightl3^ Various modifications of the common 
type of mattock and grub hoe found on the market have been tried. 
The blades have been narrowed and lengthened; they have been bent 
so as to form a right angle Trith the handle, which has been thought 
desirable for planting on slopes ; handles with a slight S curve have 
been used instead of the common, straight ones; mattocks, one of 
whose blades is a pick, have been found efficient in heavy, rocky soil; 
and tools with shortened handles have proved satisfactory in loose 
soils, where each man of a crew digs the hole and plants the tree also. 
In most planting operations a mattock with a blade from 10 to 12 
inches long seems desirable. For all varieties of soils and conditions 
encountered these are unquestionably the most efficient planting tools. 
They are sufficiently heav}^ to be used without bending or breaking in 
any soil where planting is at all practicable, and they can be used in 
the hole, slit, or grub-hoe method of planting. The mattock has a 
cutting edge which is useful in severing roots, and its blade is efficient 
for tamping the soil around the plants. 
The spade is the next most efficient planting tool. In very loose soil 
it serves better than any other, either in the slit or the hole method 
of planting. On very hard, heavy, rocky, or gravelly soils it can not 
be used to good advantage and sometimes not at all. The short- 
handled tools are preferable, but an}^ of them are likely to break 
eventually either in the blade or in the shank. 
On the Pike National Forest a planting bar has been devised for 
work on rocky areas where the grub hoes could not be used advan- 
tageously. The bar consists of a steel shank 10 inches long ^ inch 
thick, 2 inches wide at the point, and 4: inches wide at the shoulder 
inserted in a l|-inch hollow handle. The entire weight is 12 pounds. 
After one season's work it is declared to be, for such areas, a decided 
improvement on the gi^ub hoe. 
The ax can be used only in the slit method of planting in loose soil 
or in heavier soil which is free from rocks and not covered with turf. 
It can not be used successfully in rocky soils. It is not considered 
desirable nor recommended under any circumstances because the cleft 
made with it is not sufficiently deep to accommodate fulh^ the roots of 
most stock used in field planting. TMiere this method has been fol- 
lowed, the handle has been cut off to a length of about 20 inches. 
Weight is an important consideration with any tool in securing 
efficient work, and especially in increasing the rate of work. A 
certain number of motions are necessary in clearing off the surface 
of the ground, digging the hole, and working up the soil, whether 
