THE SPRUCES 249 



they remain on the branches for years {See illustration, 

 page 2^7). 



Rarely higher than fifty feet, these scraggly undersized 

 spruces are ignored by horticulturists and lumbermen, but 

 the wood-pulp man has taken them eagerly. The soft 

 weak yellow wood, converted into paper, needs very little 

 bleaching. From the far North the species covers large 

 areas throughout Canada, choosing cold bogs and swamp 

 borders, or well-drained bottom lands. In the United 

 States it extends south along the mountains to Virginia 

 and to central Wisconsin and Michigan. 



The Red Spruce 



P. rubens, Sarg. 



The red spruce forms considerable forests from New- 

 foundland to North Carolina, following the mountains and 

 growing best in well-drained upland soil. This Eastern 

 spruce is more deserving of cultivation than the one just 

 described, for its leaves, dark yellow-green and shining, 

 make the tree cheerful-looking. The slender downy twigs 

 are bright red, and there is a warm reddish tone in the 

 brown bark. The winter buds are ruddy; the flowers 

 purple; and the glossy cones, one to two inches long, change 

 from purple to pale reddish brown before they mature and 

 drop to pieces. Even in crowded forests this spruce keeps 

 its lower limbs and looks hale and fresh by the prompt 

 casting of its early ripening cones. 



The pale red wood is peculiarl}^ adapted for sounding- 

 boards of musical instruments. It has been used locally 

 in buildings, but of late the wood-pulp mills get most of 

 this timber. 



