SUMMARY: 



An initial shearing in the spring to shape a heretofore uncultured balsam fir 

 Christmas tree followed by spring clipping in subsequent years (to develop 

 greater numbers of lateral tips) was the cultural sequence that made for best 

 improvement in overall grade. Leader control if needed is best accomplished 

 with spring tip pruning with a 90° cut favored. Trees were 4 to 5 feet in height 

 at the beginning of the three year experiment. 



Spring applications of a complete (N-P-K) fertilizer in ratio .23-.27-.26 lbs. 

 elemental nutrient applied per tree, or a nitrogen fertilizer contributing .23 lbs 

 elemental nitrogen per tree, result in marked color improvement that maintains 

 itself over a two year period. Growth improvement also follows, with evidence 

 that rapid leader growth is compensated for by more vigorous intemodal bud 

 and branch development. The number of internodal buds per inch of leader 

 growth was maintained with increased leader growth. Fertilizing is therefore a 

 method of reducing the rotation period as well as improving the color 

 characteristics of balsam fir. 



Efforts to correlate foliar chemical analyses with soil analyses for a variety of 

 nutrients were unsuccessful. However, foliar analysis results are presented in 

 tables indicating the variation encountered for typical healthly young balsam fir 

 trees when samples were collected in the fall. The season of sampling, age of 

 needles, and vertical location of samples on a tree are important variables 

 affecting the results of chemical analyses. 



