ON THE GROWTH OP SPRUCE. 



Written by AUSTIN GARY. 



For two years past much of the writer's working time has been 

 spent iu the woods, employed in some way in the study of trees/ 

 and now the question confronts me — what can be brought out of 

 that experience of real benefit to the State? 



This article is not the only answer given to that question, but 

 this with regard to a branch of the subject will best illustrate the 

 attitude to the whole. Knowledge of the production of forest land, 

 the rate of growth of trees, is a central part of forestry. It is a 

 subject amenable to scientific inquiry ; while far more than rain-fall, 

 water supply and other stock subjects of most forestry agitators it 

 is of concern to this particular time and place. The question of 

 timber supply and the future value of forest products rests upon it. 

 In fixing the true and permanent value of land, rale of growth must be 

 one element in the calculation ; while to the lumberman himself who 

 wishes to make the most out of his property, the question whether 

 to cut DOW or to wait ten or twenty or thirty years largely resolves 

 itself into the question of how much larger trees he will find if he 

 defer his cutting. How much will a tree grow in ten years? What 

 yield will a section or a township maintain, in quantity or in rate 

 per cent? Are the resources of our state being unwisely encroached 

 upon ? Questions of this kind are seeking an answer with more 

 and more urgency. In addressing mj'self to the subject I have 

 not only to add somewhat to the common stock of information but 

 to illustrate and piove the value of methods for future investigation. 



It will be well to review briefly current knowledge on this matter. 

 A general impression prevails that our forests are being cut much 

 faster than they grow Many facts and judgments support this 

 view but the uncertainty of its tenure in the public mind is shown 

 by the reports that every now and then gain currency bearing to 

 an entirely opposite effect. Those who have watched the public 

 prints will remember how every few months some lumberman, who 

 is said to be particularly well posted on matters up river, and qual- 



