Issued October31, 1917. 



THE RED SPRUCE: ITS GROWTH AND MANAGE- 

 MENT. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Uses of spruce 1 



Amount and value of spruce cut and im- 

 ported 3 



Present stand of spruce 7 



Value of spruce and spruce stumpage 7 



Range and distribution 10 



Forest types 11 



Second growth stands of spruce 14 



Soil and moisture requirements 14 



Light requirements 15 



Windfirmness 15 



Page. 



Reproduction 16 



Form 22 



Length of life and maximum size 22 



Susceptibility to injury 23 



Growth 29 



Stands and yields 41 



Methods of cutting 45 



Brush disposal 59 



Sowing and planting 64 



Rotation 67 



Appendix 68 



INTRODUCTION. 



Spruce is one of the most important woods in the Eastern United 

 States. It grows on large areas in pure or nearly pure stands, is 

 distributed over many of the Northern States, and extends into the 

 southern Appalachians at the higher altitudes. It is used more than 

 any other wood in the manufacture of paper, and supplies a large 

 amount of lumber and other material. 



Various methods of forest management for spruce have been 

 adopted by large lumber and pulp companies, of which spruce often 

 forms the principal cut. The chief purpose of this bulletin is to 

 formulate definite systems of forest management for various con- 

 ditions. 1 



USES OF SPRUCE. 



Early in the history of the first New England settlement spruce 

 became established as a valuable wood in shipbuilding, for framing, 

 topmasts, and yards; and, where oak became scarce in the vicinity 

 of the northern shipyards, it was used for ship knees. It soon found 

 its way also into the export trade and was sent to the shipyards of 



1 The author's field investigations had to do chiefly with the spruce as it occurs in second growth. Ac- 

 cordingly, except for a reproduction study made in connection with the remeasurement of spruce permanent 

 sample plots, the data and discussions concerning old growth or \irgin conditions are based largely on an 

 office study (1) of the material available in publications, of which the most important are the Adirondack 

 Spruce, by Gifford Pinchot, Practical Forestry in the Adirondacks, by Henry S. Graves (Bulletin 26, 

 Division of Forestry, U. S. Department of Agriculture), and the various annual forestry reports of Maine, 

 New Hampshire, and New York, and (2) of the various unpublished data on spruce which have been 

 collected by members of the Forest Service in times past. 

 84949°— Bull. 544—17 1 



