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



spruce is of advantage during the period when it is becoming estab- 

 lished. Where each tree represents an investment, however, the 

 nurse cover must not be allowed to interfere with the seedling's nor- 

 mal development. 



Costs. — The following cost data for red spruce are based on the 

 experience of the State of New York in its reforestation operations : 



Average market price of spruce seed (ranging in price from $3 to $7). per pound . . $4. 50 



( tost of collecting seed $0. 90- 1. 50 



Cost per thousand to raise 2-year-old seedlings (based on 500,000 seedlings annu- 

 ally) 1. 33 



Three-year-old transplants 3. 23 



Four-year-old transplants 3. 73 



The cost per acre of making plantations, using various aged stock 

 and different spacings was as follows: Using 2-year-old seedlings 

 spaced 4 by 4 feet apart (2,722 trees per acre), $11.79; spaced 5 by 5 

 feet (1,742 trees per acre), $7.54; spaced 6 by 6 feet (1,210 trees per 

 acre), $5.24; using 3-year-old transplants spaced 4 by 4 feet, $19.41; 

 spaced 5 by 5 feet, $12.42; spaced 6 by 6 feet, $8.63; using 4-year-old 

 transplants spaced 4 by 4 feet, $22.87; spaced 5 by 5 feet, $14.51; 

 spaced 6 by 6 feet, $10.08. No allowance is made in the above fig- 

 ures on planting for the cost of transporting the seedlings from the 

 nursery to the planting site, since it is too variable. 



SOURCES OF PLANTING STOCK. 



Because of the slow growth in early life of red spruce planting 

 stock, it is difficult to handle both in nursery transplanting and in 

 the field where 2-year seedlings are used. This unquestionably will 

 be a strong factor in limiting the planting of this species, since both 

 white and Norway spruce (Picea canadensis and P. excelsa) are much 

 more satisfactory in this respect. For small operations, the purchase 

 of planting stock will usually be cheaper than the raising of home- 

 grown stock. Where extensive planting is to be undertaken, how- 

 ever, the field planting and nursery work can be coordinated to 

 advantage and placed under the direction of an experienced manager, 

 in which event a local nursery is desirable. 1 



The use of wild seedlings of this species, if collected as they occur 

 in the woods without selection and transplanted directly to the per- 

 manent site, would yield very irregular and unsatisfactory results. 

 Such stock would be of all sizes and of various ages from 1 to 10 

 or 15 years, with poorly developed, widely ramifying root systems 

 and spindly tops. More uniform results would be obtained if the 

 seedlings were set in nursery lines for a year, and a careful selec- 

 tion and grading made possible. The wild transplants would still be 



1 A detailed description of the subject of raising and planting coniferous seedlings will be found in 

 Bulletin 76, Forest .Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, " How to Grow and Plant Conifers in the 

 Northeastern States." 



