FOREST PLANTING IN" THE LAKE STATES 39 
Fungus diseases in the plantations of the other species were neg- 
ligible. The United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of 
Plant Industry, Office of Forest Pathology, Washington, D. C, or 
the State botany or plant pathology departments are prepared to 
identify and give advice on the control of tree diseases. 
POOR STOCK AND CARELESS PLANTING 
Careless planting and poor condition of the trees when planted 
may often be more serious causes of loss in forest plantations than 
those which have been mentioned. Information on the care of plant- 
ing and the quality of the stock was obtainable only for part of the 
plantations and was mostly based on a more or less hazy recollection 
going back over several years. It is almost certain, however, that, 
except in the occasional very favorable year, there is some loss from 
these two causes. Tree roots may be injured or partly broken ofT 
when the trees are dug in the nursery, or they may dry out or become 
heated if there are delays in shipment, or they may dry out after 
they are received and before they are planted. 
Nursery operations, both public and private, are usually well 
managed and at the present time produce good planting stock, so that 
the loss due to poor condition of the stock when received is likely to 
be small, probably not over 5 per cent. Grading of the trees as they 
are dug in the nursery is not generally practiced. If grading were 
practiced it would be possible to transplant and save the 10 to 30 per 
cent of the trees which because they are poorest are most likely to die 
when set out, particularly if the season following planting is unfa- 
vorable or the planting site is not of the best. 
Exposure of the trees even for one hour or less before planting and 
consequent drying of the roots have been found to result in heavy 
losses. Exposure is worse in the sun than in the shade (27), and 
damage is greater in the spring than in the fall (79). Even 10 to 
20 minutes exposure on a windy day may be serious. This is an all 
too common cause of large losses, which are inexcusable because they 
can be so easily avoided by keeping the roots moist until they are 
in the ground. 
Careful planting is largely a matter of the experience and care of 
the man in charge and the members of the planting crews. Where the 
planting is done by experienced crews the loss from this cause is 
unquestionably less than 5 per cent, even when the men are under 
pressure to work fast and keep down the cost. On the other hand, if 
the planting is done by inexperienced men the trees are likely to be 
set too deep or too shallow, or the soil to be not well firmed around 
the roots, practices involving heavy losses. Where experienced 
planters are not available, ordinary laborers must be placed under 
the thorough supervision of a competent man and taught to plant 
carefully. In this way the results may be as good as with an experi- 
enced crew, although, until the men become used to the work the rate 
of planting will be slower and the cost higher. 
COMPETITION 
The effect of competition between the planted trees and natural 
tree growth, shrubs, brush, and other vegetation was studied in some 
detail. The term competition is used to express the effect upon the 
