20 BULLETIN" 544, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



late undecomposed to anything like the extent that spruce litter 

 does. Thus the moist humus . layers lie close to the surface and 

 materially aid the young spruce to get established. 



Further than these, however, a condition was recently observed 

 which, if noted by other observers, has not been mentioned before in 

 any published work on the spruce and which places the spruce at a 

 still further disadvantage in its competition with balsam and with 

 hardwoods as well. During the examination of the forest floor under 

 the normal cover of even-aged spruce stands in the latter half of 

 September (1910), a large quantity of germinated spruce seed was 

 found which must have been from the recently ripened seed crop, 

 since only the seed leaves were developed, and in many cases even 

 the seed-coat still enveloped the tips of the embryonic leaves. 

 These spruce germinates were so thick in places as to make it im- 

 possible to place a finger on the ground without crushing several. 

 Balsam seedlings were also found, but remotely scattered as single 

 individuals and almost without exception spring germinates, with 

 well-developed stems and permanent leaves. One and two year old 

 balsam seedlings were also present. Spruce of this age was entirely 

 lacking, and seedlings of the previous spring's germination were also 

 only sparingly represented. 



Balsam seed trees were not very numerous, so that this condition did 

 not of itself indicate much with relation to the behavior of that species ; 

 but subsequently a stand of almost pure balsam, within a short distance 

 of the spruce plot just mentioned, was examined. Here, although the 

 site was not quite the same, the density of the cover was very similar 

 and in places conditions were even more favorable to germination 

 and early growth than in the spruce stand. A close examination of 

 the humus and light moss cover failed to disclose more than a scat- 

 tering of balsam fall germinates, although the presence of new sound 

 seeds in considerable quantity was disclosed. Balsam seedlings from 

 spring germinates were plentiful, occurring as individuals, while 1 

 and 2 year old seedlings were also numerous. 



In contrast to this condition spruce in the young growth of open 

 pastures was observed to be much more prevalent than balsam. In 

 explanation of this apparent reversal of the reproduction capacities 

 of the two species, it seems entirely probable that in the fall soil 

 moisture and general climatic conditions are, in the open, much 

 less favorable to germination of spruce than in the forest. Fur- 

 thermore, the principal seed distribution of spruce in the open, 

 except in the immediate vicinity of seed trees, doubtless occurs later 

 in the season from seeds subsequently dislodged from the cones by 

 the winter storms. Thus in the open a relatively larger percentage 

 of spruce seeds would lie over for spring germination with a corre- 

 spondingly better chance of becoming permanently established. 



