12 BULLETIN 544, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The relative importance of the four types varies according to the 

 locality. In the mountainous portions of central Maine the mixed 

 hardwood lands and spruce slopes are of greatest importance, while 

 in the northern part of the State the spruce flat is the more prevalent. 

 The spruce slope is the characteristic type in the White Mountain 

 region. In the Adirondacks the mixed hardwood type is the most 

 common, followed by the spruce swamp and the spruce slope.. In 

 the southern portion of its range spruce is only sparingly associated 

 with hardwoods, the spruce slope type being more prevalent. 



SPRUCE SWAMPS. 



The spruce swamp type dominates the low-lying, poorly-drained 

 areas, whose soil is a muck or peat, spongy in texture, and acid. The 

 characteristic species are red spruce, black spruce, balsam, tamarack, 

 cedar, soft maples, black ash, and other moisture-loving trees. 

 Sphagnum moss and low water-loving herbaceous plants commonly 

 form the undergrowth. Spruce usually makes a slow growth in such 

 situations, and is short and scraggly in appearance. It is particu- 

 larly susceptible to windthrow on these soils, which prevents its at- 

 taining as large size or as great age as when growing on the better 

 types of soil. Even-aged stands are not at all uncommon. Numer- 

 ous small islands of drier and firmer soil texture are scattered through- 

 out this type of soil. They support a somewhat better growth of 

 spruce, mixed with hemlock, white pine, birch, and some beech and 

 sugar maple. Balsam, tamarack, or arborvitsB will not infrequently be 

 found predominating in the wetter portions; and black spruce is 

 largely confined to such places. 



SPRUCE FLATS. 



The level and rolling flats bordering the swamps, lakes, and water- 

 courses, are occupied by the spruce flat type. The soil is variable 

 in composition, moderately deep where sandy or gravelly in texture, 

 and shallow where stones and bowlders predominate. While the 

 percentage of moisture may be high, the drainage is free and a favor- 

 able condition is afforded for thrifty tree development. The flat type 

 is in large measure a transition between the swamp type and the type 

 of the mixed hardwood lands, and in many respects exhibits the 

 characteristics of each. Spruce, birch, soft maples, white pine, hem- 

 lock, and balsam are the characteristics trees in mixture. The 

 presence of black ash, which is usually accompanied by considerable 

 balsam, denotes conditions bordering on the swamp type. The 

 presence of sugar maple, on the other hand, denotes a transition to the 

 hardwood lands. White pine of good quality formerly occurred in 

 abundance in this type in both Maine and the Adirondacks, par- 

 ticularly where a sandy soil predominated. Spruce attains an inter- 



