Evaluation of Manual Sorting in Three Pine Nurseries

Mechanization of nursery operation extends from seedbed preparation to seedling lifting. However, sorting and grading are still labor intensive. Three nurseries in the Southeast with varying degrees of sophistication in sorting and grading of pine seedlings were investigated. Samples of plantable and rejected seedlings were collected and analyzed to determine the nursery shed performance. A vision system was utilized for seedling measurements and the results were analyzed using ANOVA analysis. The nursery with no sorting capabilities was the most efficient, indicating that cultural practices might be an alternative to sorting. The percentage of rejects in the plantable samples was low for the nurseries with manual labor indicating the high training for sorting, however, the percentage of plantables in the reject samples was high, indicating possible waste of good nursery seedlings.