228 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



On the basis of pulpwood cordage, the mixed type runs 54 per cent, black 

 spruce, 24 per cent, white spruce and 22 per cent, balsam, in the northern clay 

 belt; the corresponding figures in the coastal plain are 54, 19 and 27. 



The mixed type exclusive of hardwood (broad-leaved) species produces the 

 heaviest cordage, averaging 10.7 cords in the coastal plain and 9.1 cords in the 

 northern clay belt, per acre of timbered area. It is to be recalled that in the 

 former, little of the inland mixed type is concerned, which yields less than the 

 river mixed type. 



In all, 543,434 acres, or 36.6 per cent, of the total timbered area, is classified 

 as mixed stands containing 40 per cent, of the total pulpwood. Of the timbered 

 area of the coastal plain, they constitute around 22 per cent, and in the case of 

 the northern clay belt around 42 per cent. 



(b) Black Spruce Type. — This type supplies around 60 per cent, of the 

 pulpwood wealth of the whole territory and occupies in round figures 942,000 

 acres in the total timbered area or 64 per cent, of it. As previously stated the 

 fringe of mixed stands along the river banks is succeeded, as one leaves the river, 

 by practically pure black spruce; this in turn gives way to the black spruce 

 scrub. In addition to such occurrence, the black spruce type is to be found 

 generally throughout the inland areas in the northern clay belt, in particular, 

 the western two-thirds of it. 



Spruce stands are healthy, the only damage observed being that of wind- 

 throw in small plots 200 or 300 feet across. Their development is better in the 

 southern section. Under the stands is a thick carpet of sphagnum moss with 

 openings in the stand filling in with alder, especially in the northern clay belt 

 section. 



The composition of the black spruce type on a pulpwood cordage basis is 

 90 per cent, black spruce and five per cent, each of white spruce and balsam in the 

 northern clay belt region; in the coastal plain, the percentage of both black and 

 white spruce increases slightly at the expense of balsam. 



Black spruce stands have an average yield per acre of 7.0 cords in the 

 coastal plain, and 8.4 cords in the northern clay belt. 



(c) Dwarf Black Spruce Type.- — ^This type is related to the excessive water 

 conditions, the ground being covered with several feet of sphagnum moss, which 

 retains the moisture and keeps the ground frozen late into the growing season. 

 The trees are stunted, reaching a maximum of 30 feet in height and four inches 

 D.B.H. at ages up to 150 years. They are mature and have no commercial 

 value. The type runs 1,000 or 1,200 of these dwarfs per acre gathered into a 

 clump-like stand. A certain amount of dwarf tamarac is present among the 

 prevailing black spruce scrub. 



This type covers 2.4 million acres or 28 per cent, of the territory and is more 

 prevalent in the coastal plain region. 



(d) Muskeg Type. — The separation of the muskeg type from the dwarf 

 black spruce was almost entirely aerial. From an aeroplane a very definite 

 line is evident in the scrub spruce surrounding the open muskeg. The trees are 

 much shorter, more distinctly in clumps and with the clumps at greater distances 

 from one another, so that from the air the intervening ground spaces stand out. 

 Consequently, an arbitrary division line between muskeg and the dwarf spruce 

 type was chosen, corresponding to this characteristic appearance from the air. 

 Study of these stands by the ground parties, gave a figure of around 400 trees, 

 averaging nine feet in height as a maximum growth condition for this type. Hence 

 the muskeg type includes the treeless areas and the open portion of the dwarf 

 black spruce type. 



