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SUMMARY OF METHODS. 
SUMMARY. 
Of all the methods of transplanting that have been described, the simplest and 
cheapest is that which consists in merely wrenching and puddling the plants and 
then carrying them to the permanent ground wrapped in wet sacks. With the 
good transplanters it will be successful to a very high percentage of the plants 
handled. But it does not meet the case of the bad transplanters. These cannot 
endure the exposure of their roots even for a short time. A method must be 
found for them, therefore, by which the shock of such exposure will he avoided. 
Boxing, potting, mossing, and bambooing are all methods that protect the roots. 
For general practice in New Zealand boxing is perhaps the best. It is expensive, 
but when properly carried out thoroughly effective and satisfactory. In careful 
hands it should not show a loss of two per cent. But the advice already given about 
restricting the number of plants in each box or tray must be duly heeded; for 
obviously, if the plants are densely crowded, some will be injured by the trowel and 
others will be stripped of humus in removal from the box. 
It may be worth while to remark in this connection that the principles 
upon which success depends in transferring infant eucalypts from the seed bed 
to the permanent planting ground are really the same in all the methods that have 
been suggested. Briefly stated, they are as follows: — 
(1) Each plant must be brought to a condition in which it has a fibrous root 
system, a firm woody stem at least Vs inch in diameter at the base, and a 
moderate amount of well hardened foliage. 
(2) The roots of each plant must be effectually protected from injury 
throughout the process of removal. 
(3) The plants must be kept continuously moist, but never allowed to remain 
long in water or in an excessively wet condition. 
(4) Bain water, or other water free from objectionable minerals, must be 
used for spraying and puddling, and should always be applied at a temperature 
one or two degrees above that of the surrounding air at the time of application. 
(5) The spots in which the plants are to be permanently placed must be 
prepared beforehand by breaking or turning of the sod. 
(6) Planting must invariably be done when there is no risk of frost, and when 
conditions generally are favourable to immediate new root growth. 
NURSE PLANTS. 
In starting and maintaining her forests, nature uses nurse plants to a lavish 
degree. The nurses belong to many genera and families of the plant world, and are 
adapted to all the climates in which it is possible for forests to grow. The most 
widely distributed nurse of our New Zealand forest flora is the common manuka 
{Leptospermuvi scoparium ). It was this plant chiefly that made possible the 
spread and perpetual regeneration of our most wonderful tree the Kauri. Given 
time, and protected in the use of her methods, nature could again clothe our waste 
spaces with indigenous forest verdure. But nature does not count the years. She 
