158 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



swamps it is said that it will grow more rapidly when transplanted to dry 

 ground. This fact adds to its desirability for ornamental planting. 



THE SPRUCES. 



Every Vermonter should know and appreciate the spruces. The moun- 

 tain spruce and the sugar maple are the most characteristic trees of the 

 state. The forests of North America contain seven species of spruce, three 

 of which occur in Vermont. 



The spruces are northern trees, and Vermont lies rather south of the 

 belt of their most abundant growth in northeastern America. It is there- 

 fore our mountain sides and cool swamps which furnish conditions suitable 

 for their best development. 



The flowering cones are similar to those of the pine in general charac- 

 ters. The flowers appear in spring and the cones mature the following au- 

 tumn, the seeds being shed during autumn or early winter. 



Until recently botanists considered the two species, here described as 

 the red and the black, to be simply varieties of one species, which then went 

 under the common name of black spruce. In the lumber trade all three 

 kinds are handled, without discrimination, as "spruce." As a matter of 

 fact, the red spruce furnishes nearly all of the spruce lumber of this state. 

 Spruce gum also comes chiefly from the red spruce, although it is formed 

 by the other species. 



Branchlets coated with minute hairs. 



Cones i-i^ inches long, clinging to the branches many years ; scales 

 of cone toothed at outer margins; leaves blue-green, paler un- 

 derneath Black Spruce 



Cones 1-2 inches long, generally deciduous by the second summer, 



scales of cone with outer margins not toothed ; leaves yellow-green. Red Spruce 



Branchlets without hairs. 



Cones slender, 1-2^ inches long, leaves blue-green White Spruce 



Introduced species. — The Norway spruce (Picea excelsa) is commonly 

 cultivated in Vermont door yards, parks and cemeteries, and is superior to 

 our native trees for such purposes. It is easily recognized by its more pen- 

 dulous branches and very large slender cones, 5 to 7 inches long. 



The Colorado blue spruce (P. pungent) is occasionally planted. This is 

 characterized by its beautiful glaucous-blue foliage. The cones are three to 

 five inches long. 



black spruce ( swamp spruce). Picea Mariana (Mill. ) B. S. P., P. nigra Link. 



This is the common spruce of the sphagnum (peat moss) swamps of the 

 Champlain valley. It is also common in Essex county and probably occurs 

 similarly in the other parts of the state, but the distribution is not well 

 known because of its confusion until recently with the red spruce. A 

 small sterile scmiprostrate form occurs on the extreme summit of Mt. 



