180 THE SPRUCES 



found one hundred feet high and three feet in diameter, 

 but the average of what are deemed mature trees is sel- 

 dom above eighty feet in height and twenty to thirty inches 

 in diameter. North of central New York, and in the New 

 England States, White Spruce (Picea canadensis) is gen- 

 erally mingled with it, frequently up to forty or fifty per 

 cent, but White Spruce in New Hampshire and Vermont 

 is confined to the northern portion of those states. They 

 can there be found in pure or mixed stands on the high 

 slopes and tops of the mountains as well as in the swamps, 

 while on the lower slopes, ridges, and intervales they are 

 mingled with Fir, Birch, Beech, and Maple. Notwithstand- 

 ing that they are found growing in exposed situations, 

 they are not as well calculated for such localities as where 

 protected from strong winds, for they are shallow-rooted 

 and liable to be blown down. 



Like all others of the Spruce family, the tree puts on 

 a stiff, formal, compact, and acutely conical crown when 

 grown in the open, and when crowded it retains the same 

 spire-like top of green limbs above the lower dead and 

 dying ones. When growing in the open, the lower limbs, 

 of which it has a generous supply, remain alive for a long 

 time, but when crowded they die for want of light, but do 

 not readily decay and drop off. This retention of its limbs 

 causes knots in the lumber, but they are generally small 

 and sound. The stem is straight, somewhat tapering, and 

 free from large limbs, the tree rarely developing them. 



The wood of the Red Spruce is light, close-grained, not 

 strong, soft, with heartwood slightly tinged with red, and 

 paler sapwood, which is usually of moderate thickness, al- 

 though sometimes two inches thick in mature trees. There 

 is little difference between spring and summer wood, and 

 the medullary rays are small and inconspicuous. It takes 

 glue and paint well. It is largely manufactured into lum- 

 ber used for general construction where not exposed. When 

 cut into beams and posts, it is apt to warp and twist in 

 seasoning. Its greatest use is for pulp, and more Spruce 



