150 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



autumn or winter of first year, scales thin with entire margins, 

 not rigid, seeds small with thin wings. A graceful tree of 

 pyramidal habit and horizontal branches, sometimes attain- 

 ing a height of over 100 feet with a diameter of 2 feet. There 

 are several varieties of value for ornamental planting. 



Distribution. In the United States it is found in northern 

 Maine and westward in certain localities to Montana. It is 

 also found in Newfoundland and Labrador, westward to the 

 Rocky Mountains and north to Alaska, It reaches its best 

 development growing in moist soil. It is found more or less 

 throughout north-eastern Minnesota, but is especially abun- 

 dant near the northern boundary. 



Propagation. The species is grown from seeds and the 

 varieties by grafting. The seeds of the White Spruce are 

 often infested by a weevil, which fact, together with their 

 small size and the difficulty in gathering them, makes them 

 high in price and often difficult to obtain. On account of the 

 ease with which Norway Spruce seeds are obtained they are 

 preferably sold by nurserymen. 



Properties of wood. Light, soft, compact, straight grained, 

 of only moderate strength, nearly odorless; color light yellow; 

 sapwood hardly distinguishable. Specific gravity 0.4051; 

 weight of a cubic foot 25.25 pounds. 



Uses. The White Spruce is one of the best evergreens for 

 planting in this section, generally rather slow in growth but 

 forming pretty conical trees. The wood is largely used for 

 general construction, spars, flooring, sounding boards for 

 musical instruments, paper pulp, etc. It is not distinguished 

 from Black Spruce in commerce. Spruce chewing gum is in 

 part the product of this tree. 



Picea mariana. ( P. nigra. ) Black Spruce. Double 

 Spruce. 



Leaves deep green, short, about i inch in length, scat- 

 tered thickly over the branches, falling during the fourth and 

 fifth seasons. Cones ovoid, oblong, 1 to If inches long, per- 

 sistent; scales very thin, rigid, with an uneven margin; seeds 

 small with rigid wings. In Maine and elsewhere a large tree 

 forming valuable forests. In this section occasionally a large 

 tree but generally small, stunted and seldom cut for timber. 



