Suitability and Economics of Bag Size for Raising Seedlings of Pinus patula and Pinus caribaea

15 sixes of polythene bags (viz. T₁-6×l0 cm, T₂-6×15 cm, T₃-6×20 cm, T₄-6×25 cm, T₅-9×l0 cm, T₆-9×l5 cm, T₇-9×20 cm, T₈-9×25 cm, T₉-12×lO cm, T₁₀-12×15 cm, T₁₁-12×20 cm, T₁₂-12×25 cm, T₁₃-15×l5 cm, T₁₄-15×20 cm and T₁₅-15×25 cm) were tried in a randomised block design with three replications to select suitable sizes of bags for propagation of Pinus patula and P. caribaea seedlipgs at the Forest Research Institute, Debra Dun (India). The results of the study show that though bigger bags of sizes 12 × 20 cm and 12 × 25 cm gave somewhat better seedling growth, even the smaller bags of sizes 6 × 10 Cm 6 × 15 Cm and 6 × 20 Cm gave seedlings stock of comparable quality and that there was no significant advantage in using bags of bigger sizes. Keeping in view the results of the study, the cost and the convenience in carriage and handling etc. of the bags of different sizes, the smaller bags of size 6 × 15 cm and 6 × 20 cm are recommended for propagation of pine seedlings instead of bigger bags of 15 × 25 cm being used at present.