903 ' JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



In Other places the stand of hardwood is almost pure. Agaii>, in other 

 places, fir second growth is filling in the slight openings made by remov- 

 ing the spruce (1890-1892), the fir being 6 to 10 inches in diameter. 

 In other sites young birch is filling in the gaps. 



Spruce Flat Type 



On both sides of the Brook the spruce flat type occupies the ground, 

 forming a strip from several rods wide to half a mile in width. The 

 soil here is thin, thickly strewn with rocks, and a heavy growth of 

 moss covers all. This region was cut in 1890 to 1892 to an approxi- 

 mate limit of 12 to 14 inches, with the following results: The larger 

 trees being taken, the remainder, with scattering exceptions, were blown 

 down, as evidenced by row after row of moss-covered, rotting trees. 

 The reproduction is mostly fir, with a good per cent of spruce. The 

 diameters vary from 2 to 4 inches, and the height 16 to 25 feet. It 

 is spaced so closely that travel through it is difficult. The density is 

 inimical to growth. Under a clump of older spruce that was still 

 standing, the reproduction was dense, but it varied in height from a 

 few inches to 6 feet, thus showing that lack of overhead light and root 

 competition with mature trees interfered with growth. 



The loss of the big trees that were blown down makes logging of 

 the few remaining unprofitable, and the reproduction is too dense. It 

 would have been better to cut clean and, if there was not enough repro- 

 duction on the ground, to leave a few seed trees, expecting them to 

 blow down. However, I believe that there is, as a rule, enough repro- 

 duction already started to restock the land after cutting. In some cases 

 seed trees should be left, and those cases should be decided upon by 

 a man who is skilled in marking. 



CLEAN CUTTING ^ 



Around Lincoln Pond, in Parkertown, Maine, pulpwood was peeled 

 in 1899-1902. The area is a typical spruce flat with rocky, moist soil. 

 The tree growth was not extremely large, but the stand of spruce was 

 dense. Some cedar, white birch, yellow birch, and maple is still present. 

 The area peeled is oval in shape, 2 by 3 miles, with the pond in the 

 center. Here all the trees were taken. All that remains of the old 

 growth are a few scattering hardw^oods, which are dying, and a few 

 very much stunted and suppressed spruces 3 to 4 inches in diameter and 

 10 to 20 feet high, having that peculiar flat, umbrella crown noticeable 

 in extremely slow growing, suppressed spruce and fir. Although these 



^ Study made in 1916. 



