18 BULLETIN 149 7, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE 
replanting the fail places in a plantation in which many of the 
trees have died. Replanting with some other sutiable kind of tree 
of faster growth than that originally planted serves not only to fill 
up the holes but also to secure the benefits of a mixed planting. 
SEASON TO PLANT 
Forest planting may be done either in spring or fall. Large 
areas have been planted in the Lake States in both seasons with 
excellent results. The degree of success obtained depends more upon 
the weather of the individual season than it does on any general 
difference between spring and fall. For example, spring plantations 
established when soil moisture and the weather following planting 
are favorable will do better than plantings made in a dry fall, and 
plantations established during a rainy fall will do better than those 
set out in a dry spring. Similarly, there are marked differences 
in the success of planting in succeeding weeks of the same season. 
The safest and most general rule, especially for the private land- 
owner, is to plant the trees as soon after the- frost goes out in the 
spring as the ground can be worked and before the buds have opened 
and new growth is started. It is therefore desirable to obtain the 
trees from a nursery as near the planting site as possible. Trees 
for spring planting should be ordered in the winter and for fall 
planting not later than the preceding spring. The beginning of the 
spring-planting season will be between April 1 and 10 in lower Michi- 
gan, and about April 15 in the northern part of the region. With 
favorable weather, planting may be continued until early in June, 
although the later plantings are likely to prove less successful than 
the earlier ones. 
Planting should not be undertaken, if it can be avoided, follow- 
ing more than a week of dry weather. It is better to heel in the 
trees where they can be watered and wait until rain comes before 
continuing, although on large jobs where many men are employed 
such a plan may not be feasible. 
Fall planting may begin with the first good rains in September 
and continue through October. Hardwoods should not be moved 
and planted in the fall until they have dropped their leaves. Species 
like European larch which start their growth very early in the 
spring are more likely to succeed when planted in the fall. As in the 
spring, fall drought periods should be avoided for planting. In 
general, the fall is likely to be a little drier than the spring. On 
heavy, clayey soils, subject to heaving, there is danger that small 
seedling stock may be heaved out during the winter. On the other 
hand, trees are entering a dormant period in the fall and are some- 
what less susceptible to damage from the drying than they are 
in the spring. They are, moreover, not immediately exposed to the 
extreme heat which usually follows within a month or two after 
spring planting. Finally, other work in forested and agricultural 
regions is not so urgent in the fall and labor for planting is easier 
to obtain. On the national forests of the Lake States the advantages 
of fall planting are considered to outweigh those of spring so 
certainly that almost all planting is now done in the fall. 
