FOKEST commissioner's REPORT. 157 



indeed is said to be hard to estimate standino- on account of 

 the deceptive size of the trees and their iiimsual lenutli of 

 body. Internal quality of timber, too, in such situations is hiuh. 

 S})ruce irrown in hard wood is less likely to l)e racked and 

 si)lit by the winds than that iiiown on more exposed situations. 

 Its wood, too, is more often clean, white and even in grain, 

 qualities which seem to go along with the character of the 

 soil. On the same factor de))ends the fact that spruce in hard 

 wood land are rai)id-growing. A good stand of hard wood is 

 a sure indicative of a liberal and well drained soil. This 

 advantage thn spruce also utilizes. It grows rapidh^ 

 Its annual rings of wood are thick. A hard wood 

 country that has a liberal mixture of spruce in it is for numer- 

 ous reasons, particularly if there is considerable young spruce, 

 apt to be valuable property. 



How does such land act after cutting? What is ^,"^"^5^. 

 its prospect as a future producer of spruce ? That "'^"^' 

 depends upon the amount of young growth and the way in 

 which the land is treated. 



Probably in all stands there is enough young spruce to keep 

 constantly replaced tinder natural conditions the stock of 

 mature trees. It often seems not to be the case, seems as 

 if there were not enough trees, say from six to ten inches in 

 diameter, on the ground to replace the original crop. Consid- 

 eration of the facts, however, convinces us that this must be the 

 case. In the first place we must remember that natural stands 

 of timber are the product of forces Avhich are constant or 

 nearly so. The i)lace that one species has won for itself it is 

 altogether likelj' it has the power to maintain. Other con- 

 siderations moreover help us to l)elieve it. It takes but ten 

 mature trees per acre to make a fair croj) on such land, and 

 probably as many more lietween six and twelve inches in 

 diameter — an amount and quality of timber which on most 

 observers would make no impression whatever — are all that 

 within those dimensions are required to replace it.* But 



*For the justification of tlii.s view see page 132, note. 



