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"seedhouse" and then transplant them into the desired containers,
usually 2-gallon or 5-gallon containers. Those containers were
moved from the seedhouse to pads where they could be spaced,
pruned, and staked. The 5-gallon container trees generally were
spaced two or three times per year as they grew. The nursery
would water the container trees on the pads an average of about
twice per day. The container trees in the field operation would
receive water and be fertilized four times a day. At each stage,
some of the plants would be culled. All aspects of this
operation were done by hand. The B&B trees that were planted in
the fields were also pruned and fertilized by hand.
The nursery hired Mexican laborers to dig up B&B trees on a
piecework basis. For a portion of the earliest years in issue,
petitioners used cash to pay the Mexican pieceworkers. Beginning
in mid-1987, the workers were paid by check. The nursery had a
pulling crew that moved the trees from the field to the loading
dock in order to fill an order. The pulling crew placed by hand
a name tag and a price tag on each of the container trees.
Generally, each year the nursery began shipping in late
December or early January and continued until June or July of the
following year. The nursery owned its delivery trucks and
employed the drivers. The nursery had a loading crew to load the
trucks. The nursery delivered the container trees to its chain
store customers using 45- to 48-foot semitrucks. Approximately
1,500 5-gallon container trees or 3,000 2-gallon container trees
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Last modified: May 25, 2011