94 : PRACTICAL FORESTRY 
are apparently slower growers than the European 
spruce. The seed of the American spruce is difficult 
to obtain and of course expensive. The European 
spruce is well known, its seed is cheap, its growth is 
rapid, its cones are large and seed easily collected, and 
it has been planted so much in this country as a shade 
tree that its fitness can not be doubted. 
One constantly meets with surprises in forestry, 
and there is certainly something surprising in the 
fact that the Danes are planting our common white 
spruce on the bleak heath-lands of their windy coun- 
try. The white spruce (Picea canadensis) is an ex- 
tremely important species for Denmark, because ex- 
periments prove beyond doubt that it is excellently 
suited for cultivation on the poor, dry, and above all, 
tempestuous heaths of Jutland. Here appears to be 
a contradiction—the Danes choose our spruce and we 
choose the native European spruce. It is often, how- 
ever, the case that a tree will do better in regions in 
which it is not native. This is so also of our com- 
mon red oak and black locust, which are famous for- 
est trees in Europe. 
In the choice of species for planting or encourage- 
ment, three points at least are worth considering: 
First, the adaptability of the species to the soil 
and climate in which you may wish to plant it. 
Second, its silvicultural qualities, such as rapidity 
