136 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



this a word of forest description is necessary. 



The two species of spruce used in aircraft are the 

 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and Red spruce (Picea 

 rubens). The latter is the eastern form ; the former 

 confined to the Pacific Coast. In the East the red spruce 

 ranges from the higher elevations of the southern Ap- 

 palachians in North Carolina to nearly the northern 

 limit of tree growth in Labrador and around Hudson 

 Bay, spreading westward to Minnesota and the plains of 

 Canada. It is of commercial size and value throughout 

 the southern portion of its range, in part of the Lake 

 States, and of great abundance and widest use in south- 

 ern New England, the Adirondacks and most of eastern 

 Canada. 



Red spruce, like other trees, selects the environment 



cool, moist flats, and again on the draws, ridge sum- 

 mits and moist slopes of the mountains ; elsewhere, it 

 gives way to hardwood, or in the original forests to white 

 pine, or is found scattered or in mixture with balsam, 

 birch, maple and other woods. 



In size the eastern spruce in the best stands reaches 

 a diameter of two to three feet, with the average con- 

 siderably less, and a height of 70 to 80, or even 100 feet. 

 Most of that which is left, and the larger part now cut 

 for pulpwood is of smaller size. As the northern limits 

 of its range are approached, the size decreases, until it 

 is a limby dwarf of no value. 



The eastern spruce suitable for aircraft wings is natur- 

 ally that of the larger size and best quality. For years 

 piano manufacturers have preferred the spruce from the 



Photograph by Underwood & Underwood. 



ANOTHER PHASE OF WAR-TIME WOODS ACTIVITY 



The saws used at the portable mills near the front need riling and constant attention to produce the best work. This picture represents a soldier 

 and a British officer tuning up a circular saw, and is a scene which is probably duplicated daily at the sawmill units of the Tenth and Twen- 

 tieth Engineers (Forest). 



best suited to it, dominating on all such areas except 

 where crowded out by competitive species. In the Ap- 

 palachian mountains, and on the better soils farther north, 

 it gives way to the hardwoods, its place in the southern 

 mountains being in the cooler upper reaches and on the 

 shallow, rougher ground. In New England and the 

 Adirondacks it is found in almost pure dense stands on 



mountains of West Virginia and the Carolinas for sound- 

 ing boards, but little of it is now available. That farther 

 north has the same qualities of slow growth and uniform 

 texture but to secure the grade suitable for aircraft stock 

 means combing forests for the best. From selected 

 saw logs in northern New England, only 5 to 10 per 

 cent meets the specifications. The average from red 



