THE RED SPRUCE. 67 



inferior to straight nursery-grown stock; and the expense of trans- 

 planting, tending in the nursery lines, and grading would bring their 

 cost up to that of the more satisfactory nursery-grown seedlings. 



SPACING IN PLANTING. 



For general commercial planting a spacing of 5 by 6 feet or 6 by 6 

 feet apart is recommended. Moderately close planting is necessary 

 with spruce to stimulate its growth in height and to provide for the 

 closing of the crown cover and suppression of its lower branches. 

 Such a stand properly thinned should show a final yield in 45 years 

 of from 32 to 55 cords per acre in addition to the intermediate yields 

 from thinnings. Wider planting, as, for instance, 8 by 8 feet or 8 by 

 10 feet, is advocated in some quarters to obviate the necessity of 

 thinning under a short rotation for the production of pulpwood. 

 The timber produced by such a method would be short, big-butted, 

 with a quick taper, and clothed with green, or at best poorly sup- 

 pressed, dead branches well down to the ground. Such a stand 

 might be expected to yield between three-fourths and 1 cord per acre 

 per annum with a 30 to 35 year rotation. 



ROTATION. 



Some consideration has already been given to the rotation in con- 

 nection with the discussion of methods of cutting and of thinnings. 

 As indicated in Table 17, a dotation of from 55 to 60 years under 

 average, natural, even-aged conditions will yield a maximum of 

 pulpwood volume. Judicious thinnings should reduce this rotation 

 from 5 to 10 years, increasing the gross volume, including the volume 

 of yield from thinnings, at the same time. For saw timber and dimen- 

 sion stuff a rotation of from 100 to 120 years should yield a satisfac- 

 tory return under management for selection as well as even-aged 

 forest conditions, as shown by Tables 15 and 16. In the case of 

 selection forests, of course, the quantitative yield would be small as 

 compared to even-aged stands, but this disadvantage should be 

 offset to an appreciable extent by the better than average quality 

 yield. 



