14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



The 

 Novii 



Red Spruce. 



range of growth of red spriK'e is fiom 

 Seotia southward through western 

 North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and into 

 the high altitwles of South Carolina. It is 

 lound iu many of the eastern states, jjrin- 

 .•ipally in Maine. New Hampshire, Yovnumt 

 ;»ud New York. A considerable 

 growth of the wood onee stood in 

 northeastern Pennsylvania, but it 

 is now entirely exhausted. 



In New York the tree is called 

 yellow spruce, whUe in foreign liter- 

 ature it is known as North Ameri- 

 .•an red spruce. The tree is some- 

 times difficult to distinguish from 

 black spruce (Ficea nigra), the 

 main points of difference iu the ap- 

 pearance of the two trees being the 

 size and shape of the cones and of 

 the staniinate blossoms. The cones 

 of red spruce are larger than those 

 if black, and they mature and drop 

 from the branches during their first 

 winter, while those of the latter- 

 named variety frequently remain on 

 the tree for several seasons. Cer- 

 tain eminent botanists incline to the 

 belief that the two are different 

 forms of one species, inasmuch as 

 even the timber of red spruce bears 

 a close resemblance to that of black 

 spruce. Other botanists dispute this 

 theory emphatically, saying that the 

 trees are entirely different in ap- 

 pearand-; that the red spruce is a 

 light olive-green, while black spruce 

 is inclined to a darker olive with 

 perhajis a purplish tinge, so that 

 when seeu together they have no 

 resemblance in point of color. They 

 further say that the cones are not 

 only different in size, but that the 

 scales are quite unlike in texture, 

 those of black spruce being much 

 thinner and more brittle. The same 

 authorities maintain that the tiny 

 twigs of red spruce are more con- 

 .spicuous on account of their red- 

 dish tinge. 



fienerally. speaking the principal 

 spruce growth of northern New 

 Kngland and New York is black 

 spruce (Pieea nigra), although in- 

 terspersed with it in some localities 

 ia a considerable quantity of the 

 red spruce (Pirca rabcns). On 

 the contrary, the chief stand of spruce in 

 West Virginia, Virginia, western North Caro- 

 lina, caittern Tennefisce and the other high 

 altitudes over the South Carolina line is 

 very largely red spruce, although interspersed 

 with this is more or less black spruce. This 

 botanical analysis of the two varieties of 

 wood is based entirely on the authority of 

 botanists, but to the average lumberman there 



TKIRTIETH PAPER. 



is absolutel}- i:o dillerence between red and 

 black spruce from their viewpoint, and none 

 iu the physics of the two woods save that 

 which arises from varying conditions of 

 growth as .soil, rainfall, altitude or compen- 

 sating latitude, or general environment. The 

 jiresent day larger spruce of West Virginia 

 and the nioiiiitain region further .south, lias 



YIMCAI, rORKST 



flUOWTH IlKD 

 lilNI.V. 



Sl'mTK WKST VIR 



certain qualities of strength and texture, com- 

 bined with a large percentage of clear lum- 

 ber that is not approximated by the spruce 

 of New England and the British maritime 

 provinces. 



Kcd spruce belongs to the pirn? family. In 

 shape the tree is jiyramidal, with spreading 

 branches. It reaches a height of from sc'venty 

 to a hunilred feet. Its bark is reddish brown. 



slightly scaly. The young t\vig.s are light 

 colored when young and are covered witfl 

 tiny hairs. The leaves are thickly clustered 

 along the branches; they are simple, con- 

 sisting of a slender needle, pointed at the 

 apex. They become lustrous at maturity. 

 The staniinate flowers are oval, bright red in 

 color; the pistillate ones are oblong, with 

 thin rounded scales. The fruit of 

 red .spruce is a cone, from one to 

 two and a half inches in length; il 

 is green when young, turning dark 

 with age, and , f.alling from the 

 branches when the scales open otil. 

 The seeds are dark brown ntnl 

 winged. 



The wood is light and soft, close 

 •grained and stronger perhaps than 

 any other wood of equal weight. 

 The sapwood is of a jialer color than 

 the heartwood. It somewhat re- 

 sembles pine, for which it is exten- 

 sively used as a substitute. It is 

 not desirable for posts and trusses, 

 lieiug inclined to warp and twist in 

 seasoning, but is especially adapt 

 able for joints, studding, sheath 

 ing, boxes, flooring and interior 

 finish. Other representative use.s 

 are for the sounding boards of 

 pianos and other musical instruments 

 and extensively for pulp, i'ully halt 

 the spruce timber felled today is 

 converted into pulp for paper mak- 

 ing, 



Mathews says of led spruce : 

 ■ ' This tree is familiar to those who 

 may have climbed the granite hills 

 of New Hampshire; nowhere else has 

 the spruce seemed to me quite so 

 impressive, for in this section of 

 the country it holds almost exclu- 

 sive possession of the wilderness and 

 the great summits which rise sev- 

 eral thousand feet above the son 

 level. In traveling through tlic 

 valleys of the Gale, Ammonoosuc, 

 I'emigewasset, Ellis and Saco rivers, 

 one may trace on the mountain 

 walls the line where the maples .-iiul 

 birches stop and the dark spruces 

 begin; their somber black-green 

 color clothes the greater hills with 

 something like majestic solemnity — 

 an aspect which the jioet Whittier 

 must have had in mind (although he 

 does not allude to the spruce tree) 

 v. lien he wrote this: 



"Hy maple orchards, liclls of pine. 



And larches cllinblnt: darkly 

 riie mountain slopes, and over nil 

 Tlie great peaks rising starkly. 



' ' These lines, however, perfectly express the 

 impression which the spruce-clad mountain 

 wall jiroduces on the mind of one who passes 

 Ihrongh the valleys of the White mountains. 



