THE SITKA SPRUCE AS A TREE FOR HILL PLANTING. I 5 



the coalfields in the south of Scotland. With the development 

 of the Aberdeen and north-east coast fishing and box-making 

 industries, however, a good market has been opened up, and the 

 demand for clean-grown Scots pine and spruce exceeds the supply. 

 Unfortunately much of the timber produced is not sufficiently 

 clean grown to meet requirements, and a steady import trade 

 from continental sources has arisen in manufactured staves, and 

 also in pulpwood billets, which are now being manufactured 

 locally into barrel staves, boxwood, etc. Wide planting and 

 early thinning, it will therefore be understood, have their dis- 

 advantages ; and in this part of the country they are being felt 

 at a comparatively early period in the life of the plantation. 



As a shade-bearing species, Sitka spruce does not rank high ; 

 it seems intolerant of both overhead and close side-shade, and 

 might be classed as a moderate light demander rather than as 

 a shade-bearer. Where planted densely, in mixture with 

 Douglas fir and Norway spruce, it has become thin in foliage 

 and stunted in growth, while the other species are both making 

 good growth. As an understory, it would, therefore, seem 

 capable of use only under a very high canopy of light-crowned 

 oak or larch ; and as Douglas fir would produce both a larger 

 volume of timber and further improve the condition of the soil, 

 it should under such conditions always be planted in preference 

 to Sitka spruce. 



As regards the reproductive capacity of the tree in this 

 country, it does not seem particularly prolific. Cone-bearing 

 does not become general until about the thirty-fifth to the 

 fortieth year, and good seed years are somewhat infrequent The 

 cones are small in size, but contain from 300 to 350 seeds, and 

 should be collected immediately on ripening, in early October, 

 as in presence of a drying wind the scales open up, and the 

 seeds may be shed within a few days. Acclimatisation has, 

 however, become so far assured as to promise a sufficient 

 supply of seed in the country ; and as a proof of this I may say 

 that, a few years ago, I had the cones collected from a tree of 

 about thirty-five years of age, and the seeds sown separately, 

 the result being that close on 20,000 seedlings were produced 

 from them. 



In its nursery management, a considerable amount of 

 attention is required during the first yezrr after sowing the seeds, 

 both as regards drought in summer and frost-lifting in winter. 



