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BULLETIIT 475, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
KEPAIES AND EXTRA EQUIPMENT. 
That all tools be kept in good working order is essential because 
it increases the amount and efficiency of the work. A portable forge 
with an anvil and a grindstone or a supply of files should, if possible, 
be kept in the planting camps for this purpose. A number of extra 
tools should also be kept on hand for use while others are being 
repaired. If pails or baskets are used by the planters for carrying 
the trees, a surplus of these should also be kept on hand. 
CAUSES OF FAILURE AND LOSSES, AND METHODS OF PREVENTION. 
Some losses must be expected, but these will be materially reduced 
when the species, class of stock, sites, methods, and seasons most 
suitable have been more thoroughly worked out. The only factor 
that it will never be possible to foresee or guard against is unfavor- 
able weather. The weather being left out of account, the important 
factors upon which the success of plantations depend are as follows : 
Species and Class of Stock. 
The safest guide in the choice of species is the trees already 
growing on the site or on similar sites in the same locality. The 
introduction of other sx^ecies or the extension of natural range is 
always accompanied by high probability of failure. So long as there 
are in the aggregate such large areas in need of reforestation, the 
best plan at present is to rely upon the native species. The introduc- 
tion of others should not be attempted unless upon a very small scale 
for experimental purposes. "UTiile thriving at first, such species 
may after a few years become very inferior in form and rate of 
growth. 
In some instances seedlings have given better results than trans- 
plants in field planting and vice versa. Time will undoubtedly 
develop the fact that on some, probably the better sites in the more 
favorable regions, seedlings will succeed admirably. As their use 
will reduce costs, they should be planted under such conditions. Upon 
by far the greater portion of the area needing planting, however, 
two or three year old transplant stock, by virtue of its better developed 
root systems and somewhat dwarfed stocky tops, offers much better 
assurance of success in field planting. Even with such stock con- 
sistently heavy grading should be followed to eliminate the weak 
trees. 
Source of Seed. 
The source of seed also exerts its influence upon the final success 
of the plantation. Experiments have demonstrated clearly that stock 
from seed locally collected succeeds better than that produced from 
