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A study is described which examined the effect of a wide range of initial density and rectangularity (the ratio of between row to within row spacing) on the rate of machine planting in Pinus radiata. A factorial design, employing three levels of density (749, 1683, 4305 trees per hectare) and three levels of rectangularity (1:1, 2:1, 4:1), was replicated three times in each of two well separated localities.It was found that the cost of planting falls as spacing at given density becomes more rectangular or as density is reduced, the effect of rectangularity becoming more pronounced as density is reduced. The results have been expressed in a mathematical model that can be applied over a wide range of densities and rectangularities. Savings of over 200Jo can be made by moderate moves towards either rectangular spacing or lower density, and by closer supervision of planting operations if density inadvertently tends to be too high.

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