SILVICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS 47 



Norway Spruce {Picea excelsa). 



The Norway spruce, like the Scotch pine, is native throughout 

 northern Europe, but is not pecuHar to Norway any more than 

 the pine is to Scotland. It was planted considerably in this 

 country between 1850 and 1875, chiefly for ornamental purposes, 

 and made such a rapid growth that in a few instances it has been 

 planted in clumps and large groves, for commercial purposes. 

 Individual specimens may be found throughout New England. 

 It grows much faster than the red spruce, two feet a year in 

 height being not uncommon. Its diameter and volume growth 

 are equally rapid. One of the best known plantations of this 

 spruce, a small patch on the Billings Estate in Woodstock, Ver- 

 mont, is now thirty-four years old. Many of these trees have 

 diameters from a foot to eighteen inches. Four of them when 

 cut made a cord of pulp wood. Tests made by the International 

 Paper Company proved that the wood of the Norway makes a 

 whiter and stronger-libered paper than that of the red spruce. 

 For this reason, combined with its rapidity of growth, this 

 company has commenced planting it extensively. 



Its requirements as to moisture, soil, and light appear to be 

 similar to those of red spruce, except that possibly it does not 

 thrive so well on wet land. In habihty to damage it is also 

 similar to our native species. 



There are, however, two serious objections to the Norway 

 spruce. The first is that in this country it does not seem to 

 live much over fifty years. This, perhaps, is not a serious 

 objection from the standpoint of raising pulp since an excellent 

 crop may be secured in thirty-five to fifty years. The other 

 objection is that it is a very poor reproducer. Although this 

 tree has been planted extensively in this country, it is difficult 

 to find any number of small trees that have seeded from old ones. 

 But this is not an acquired fault, for this spruce is notorious, 

 even in the Black Forest of Germany, for its poor reproduction. 

 Our native red spruce is much superior in this respect, and this 

 difference will be of importance as years pass and forests now 



