NOTES ON JACK PINES AND SITKA SPRUCE. 1 53 



its lower limit it is found with Douglas fir, which occupies the 

 drier sites. At its upper limit Engelman's spruce and Alpine fir 

 come in on the moister sites. The wood of lodgepole is similar 

 to that of Pinus banksiana, and is used for the same purposes. 



These pines though comparatively small will become in- 

 creasingly valuable as the larger species, yielding better grades 

 of lumber, are cut out. They cover immense areas of 

 inhospitable soil, and for local use they will always be useful 

 as cordwood and small-sized lumber. Their extreme hardiness 

 and thriftiness on poor soils, the large amount of seed 

 produced, and their ability to take possession after fires, will 

 ensure a continuous supply of timber if properly safeguarded. l 



Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is also known as Menzies 

 spruce, Alaska spruce, tideland spruce, giant spruce, and silver 

 spruce. It is the largest and most valuable of all the spruces. 

 It extends from Alaska southwards along the coast of British 

 Columbia, Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, to 

 California, but rarely occurs more than 50 miles inland. 



It is usually found on flat, moist, sandy, often swampy, soils 

 along the coast, extending inland along well-watered valley 

 bottoms, and rarely reaches 1000 feet above sea-level. The 

 timber on elevations above this limit is comparatively small, 

 yielding a coarse grade of lumber. In the northern part of its 

 range it goes up to 3000 feet, but is then reduced to a mere 

 shrub. The largest and cleanest timber is found below 500 feet. 



The leaves are dark bluish-green in colour, flattened, sharp 

 pointed, h to i£ inch long, standing out stiffly from all sides of 

 the branches, and often nearly at right angles to them ; the 

 stomata are mostly on the upper surface. The fruit is 

 cylindrical-oval, short stalked, and hanging from the tips of the 

 branchlets. The cones vary in size from 2 to 4 inches long, and 

 the scales are thin and papery. Sitka spruce is a prolific 

 seeder, with heavy seed years at intervals of 2 to 3 years. The 

 cones ripen in autumn and early winter, and are deciduous. 

 The seed is shed before they fall off the tree. The seed has a 

 high germination percentage and persistent vitality. Seeds 

 germinate best in a moist to wet soil, and the seedlings are 

 frost-tender the first few years only. 



: A table showing the average growth of lodgepole pine will be found in 

 Bulletin 154, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 



VOL. XXXIV. PAKT II. L 



