Air drop planting system and improved planting device for same

An elongated planting device transport and dispensing tray for an air drop planting system for random pattern dropping of hollow cone planting devices bearing internally seedlings within said hollow cone planting devices, said system including a horizontally open ended dispensing container fixedly mounted to an aircraft fuselage and having at least one compartment open to the exterior of the fuselage, and wherein a plurality of said trays are removably, vertical stacked within said compartment, each tray being of rectangular cross-section and having at least one horizontally open end corresponding in position to the open end of the dispensing container, and whereby a plurality of hollow cone planting devices may be slidably mounted in a horizontal row within a dispensing tray with the planting devices alternating their pointing directions such that the planting devices may be movable horizontally within the trays for forced projection of the planting devices from the horizontal open end of the trays to cause a widespread uniform drop of said devices over a significant drop zone swath, and wherein each tray comprises sheet material halves including a bottom half having a bottom wall and an integral end wall and a top half including a top wall and an integral opposite end wall, said halves being pivotably connected along one side thereof, permitting the top half to open with respect to the bottom half, and each of said halves bearing internally projecting ribs on opposite sides and adjacent respective ends, said ribs functioning to locate said planting device hollow cone bodies, and permitting, when said planting devices are placed alternately, end for end within the container bottom half, leaf portions of the seedlings carried therein to project beyond the ribs and within said trays.