BALSAM FIE. 65 



light than does spruce. This is especially true in the case of alter- 

 nate or successive strips. With partially cleared and thinned strips, 

 however, which are cut practically at the same time, the reproduc- 

 tion of balsam fir can be reduced in favor of spruce if thinning is 

 confined largely or exclusively to balsam fir, thus decreasing its par- 

 ticipation in reseeding the ground. 



CLEAR CUTTING, WITH ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION. 



Still another silvicultural method to which both spruce and bal- 

 sam fir are adapted, particularly for pulp, is clear cutting, with sub- 

 sequent planting. Such a system, however, presupposes intensive 

 management and a considerable initial outlay of money. The 

 planting of red spruce and balsam fir would be hardly advisable for 

 both silvicultural and financial reasons, because of the former's 

 extremely slow growth and the latter' s comparatively inferior quali- 

 ties. If planting is to be done, it would be better to use more val- 

 uable and promising species, such as Norway or possibly white spruce. 

 The cost of establishing a stand artificially is the same whether 

 valuable or inferior species are used. For these reasons clear cutting, 

 with artificial reproduction, would hardly be a profitable undertaking, 

 at least for the balsam fir. The justification for retaining balsam fir in 

 the future stands must be in the ease with which it can be reproduced 

 naturally and cheaply. 



GRADUAL CUTTING. 



Selection in groui^s. — Spruce stands are best managed by gradual 

 cuttings. This is essentially the method used in the old-time logging 

 operations, when only the largest trees could be used, and is in vogue 

 now on a number of large spruce tracts owned by pulp and paper 

 companies. Only the larger mature trees or trees of a certain char- 

 acter are taken, and the rest left on the ground for future logging. 



Natural reproduction of spruce and balsam is readily secured 

 under this method of cutting if the following rules are observed : 



1 . In logging, the trees should be removed not singly but in small 

 groups. The removal of such groups of trees will make small open- 

 ings, or "holes," in the forest, which are more readily stocked than 

 openings made by the removal of single trees. When single trees 

 are cut, the openings are soon closed by the growth of side branches 

 of the neighboring trees, and the young growth that appears is soon 

 either shaded out or stunted. Openings, or "holes," in the forest 

 formed by the removal of groups of trees a quarter of an acre or less 

 in extent receive abundant seed from the surrounding trees, yet have 

 enough fight for a vigorous and normal development of the repro- 

 duction that springs up. 



