THE SPRUCE INVESTIGATION. 207 



DESCRIPTION. 



The spruce (Fig. I) is easily distinguished from all of our tim- 

 ber trees by the following characteristics : It is a tall, straight 

 tree, attaining a maximum diameter of two to three feet at the 

 base, and a height of over one hundred feet. The cones (Fig. Ill) 

 are one, to one and three-fourth inches long, occurring singly or 

 in clusters, most abundant at the top of the tree. The leaves are 

 short and stiff, dark green and thickly set on the young branches, 

 the larger branches usually extend at right angles, to the main 

 trunk and droop towards the tips, forming a conical top, resembl- 

 ing closely in this respect the introduced and cultivated Norway 

 spruce, (Fig. IV). The wood is light and strong, although fre- 

 quently filled with small knots. It is used principally for frame 

 stuff, siding, inside finish and singles, and is also largely used for 

 the manufacture of high grade paper pulp. Whenever the condi- 

 tions are favorable for the growth of this tree, it forms dense 

 and nearly pure forests of fine timber, yielding from ten to fifty 

 thousand feet, board measure, of lumber to the acre. It seems 

 to thrive best on rocky slopes and ridges, and flat and swampy 

 mountain plateaus. In rich, deep, limestone and clayey or sandy 

 soils even at high elevations, the conditions are unfavorable 

 for it to form dense forests, (Fig. V), since it is less capable of 

 surviving in the struggle for existence with birch, maple, beech 

 and other hard-wood trees, which usually occupy such lands. 

 It is therefore pre-eminently fitted to occupy land which is 

 worthless for almost any other purposes. It is seldom found 

 growing naturally in West Virginia below an elevation of 2,300 

 feet above the sea, and is most abundant at and above 3,000 

 feet. Indeed, the various species of spruce and fir, indigenous 

 to the eastern part of North America, occur only at high eleva- 

 tions and in northern latitudes, becoming more abundant and 

 forming great forests towards the sub-artic regions where ac- 

 cording to Sargent they extend in a great belt across the con- 

 tinent. Therefore, they are distinctly northern in their gen- 

 eral distribution, and can thrive naturally only in a cold cli- 

 mate like that prevailing in Central and North Canada, hence, 

 it can only grow naturally in West Virginia at high altitudes 



