A New Hardwood Cuttings Planter

An efficient machine for planting hardwood cuttings has been developed and perfected at the Tree Nursery, Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Canada Department of Agriculture, Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada, (fig. 1). The 4-row machine can plant 30,000 cuttings per hour with a crew of 10. This includes the labour for transporting the cuttings to the field and replenishing the cutting boxes on the planter. The spacing of the cuttings in the row is varied by regulating the speed of the tractor. If the tractor has a creeper" gear permitting speeds as low as 1/6, cuttings can be planted at 1-inch spacing. The cuttings are placed practically upright in the soil so that no hockey sticks" occur in the rooted plants. The machine can handle, without adjustment or sorting to size, cuttings varying in diameter from 1/8 of an inch to 1 inch. The planting machine has been used on the Indian Head Tree Nursery for 3 years. During this time it has been thoroughly tested and modified where necessary to make it fully efficient and serviceable. A single-row unit is estimated to cost about $500. We invite comments and enquiries from interested nurserymen to help us determine if such a planter would be useful in the industry. If so, we will arrange with a manufacturer for its commer- cial production. Please write to the Superintendent Tree Nursery, P.F.R.A., Indian Head, Saskatche wan, Canada.

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Author(s): W. H. Cram

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 19, Number 4 (1969)

Volume: 19

Number: 4