54 



THE FORESTER. 



March, 



west of the summit of the Cascades be- 

 low 2,500 feet, on river bottoms, in 

 sheltered ravines, on rich benches" and 

 on moderate slopes. It attains the 

 greatest height and produces the most 

 valuable timber when growing in dense 

 forests, on well-drained, loamy soil and 

 in sheltered situations. It occurs, how- 

 ever, in abundance on rocky soil, steep 

 slopes and exposed ridges, where it is apt 

 to be comparatively short and scrubby. 

 For its best development a considerable 

 amount of moisture in the air is required, 

 and on this account it prospers better on 

 the western than the eastern slopes of 

 the Cascades. A deep soil is not required 

 on account of the shallow root system. 

 This is well illustrated in the lower 

 Santiam Valley, where Douglas Spruce 

 is frequently found growing with great 

 vigor, and producing tall, straight tim- 

 ber, on ground with an impermeable 

 subsoil, in which the White Oak is short 

 and stunted. 



HABIT. 



When growing in open situations, 

 Douglas Spruce develops a large spread- 

 ing crown, which gives the tree a broad, 

 conical aspect. Such trees are com- 

 paratively short and grow rapidly in 

 diameter. In dense stands, on the other 

 hand, the trees are very tall, shed their 

 lower branches early, and form long 

 clear boles with narrow compact crowns. 

 Douglas Spruce carries its diameter well 

 up into the crown, and in case of very 

 old trees, the stem then tapers within a 

 few feet abruptly to a point, this portion 

 being usually bent in the direction of 

 the prevailing wind. 



The largest tree measured by the 

 writer was thirteen feet in diameter and 

 had an estimated height of nearly 300 feet. 

 One observer states that he measured a 

 tree in Washington 335 feet high and fif- 

 teen feet in diameter. The oldest tree, 

 whose age was determined during the 

 present study, was about 400 years old, 

 but specimens have been found with 700 

 annual rings on the stump. 



The bark of young trees is light gray 

 or white, and is smooth, thin, and 

 covered with resin blisters. When twenty 

 to thirty years old the bark becomes 

 longitudinally cracked. In later life the 



color varies from dark brown, almost 

 black, to a whitish gray ; and often on 

 old trees it is reddish, or light brown 

 tinged with yellow. At about fifty years 

 of age the bark is six-tenths to nine- 

 tenths of an inch thick, and on old trees 

 three to six inches or even more. 



Lumbermen distinguish between Red 

 and Yellow Spruce, but botanically these 

 are identical. They differ only in the 

 character of the lumber they produce. 

 The Yellow Spruce is old and mature, 

 and is generally found in dense forest on 

 good soil and in favorable situations. 

 The trees have long, clear, full trunks, 

 narrow crowns, and a fine-grained, 

 yellowish wood. Often, however, the 

 wood has a reddish tinge near the center. 

 The bark is usually light brown, tinged 

 with yellow, and is less coarse in texture 

 than that of the Red Spruce. The latter 

 has a comparatively large crown, deeply 

 corrugated bark, and coarse-grained, red- 

 dish wood. The Douglas found on the 

 eastern slope of the Cascades, or grow- 

 ing in open situations, is for the most 

 part Red Spruce. The yellow variety is 

 confined to the Pacific slope. 



The wood of the Douglas is extremely 

 durable. Trees have been known to lie 

 on the ground forty years and be per- 

 fectly sound. Stems of trees which have 

 been killed by fire stand many years be- 

 fore decaying. On one plot of even- 

 aged trees eighty-three years old, near 

 Permelia Lake old stubs of the original 

 timber were still to be seen, though de- 

 caying and crumbling to pieces 



TOLERANCE. 



The Douglas Spruce cannot live in very 

 dense shade. This is shown by the great 

 scarcity of young growth in the deep 

 forest, where the proportion of old Firs 

 which are constantly distributing seed, 

 is large. Among the western conifers it 

 stands between White Pine and Noble 

 Fir in the scale of tolerance, the former 

 bearing more shade and the latter less. 



REPRODUCTION. 



The youngest tree found bearing seed 

 was only sixteen years old. It was grow- 

 ing, however, in excellent soil and in an 

 open situation. In the forest the period 

 at which the Douglas Spruce bears seed 



