Picea 1383 



wind better than common spruce. From what I saw, however, during our visit to 

 Denmark in 1908,^ it is not likely to become a timber tree of any value here. 



In a paper on the "Reclamation of Moors in Belgium,"^ Mr. A. P. Grenfell 

 says that it forms an excellent mixture with common spruce on poor soils, and in 

 exposed situations in that country, and that it is more windfirm than common spruce. 

 The white spruce is extremely hardy, and will thrive in exposed situations on 

 high hills, where the common spruce succumbs to the continued action of cold winds 

 in spring. Annand' gives an instance of its success on poor peaty soil at a high 

 elevation in the north of Scotland, and recommends it for planting as a wind- 

 break. He tells us that at Carragill in Cumberland, where it has been planted in 

 perhaps the most exposed situation in England, it continues to grow as a low 

 tree between 1600 and 2000 feet, where there is practically no soil, and above the 

 zone in which the common spruce can exist. He considers it specially valuable 

 on wet soils ; and says that it has been planted for shelter to a considerable extent 

 in the Moorfoot hills in Midlothian, and in hilly districts in Peeblesshire, Aberdeen- 

 shire, and Caithness. At Durris,* however, P. sitchensis far surpasses it in growth 

 in such conditions, and appears to be equally hardy. In the Hertogenwald in 

 Belgium P. alba has been planted with some success in the wettest parts of the 

 peat mosses at high altitudes. 



At Weston Hall, Staffordshire, on good alluvial soil, a plantation was made of 

 the common spruce in 1868, amongst which are scattered a few P. alba. The best 

 of the white spruce was 45 ft. by 2 ft. 9 in. in 1909, while the European spruce 

 averaged 60 ft. by 5 ft. 3 in. 



The tallest white spruce in England is probably one at Woburn, which measured 

 in 1909 72 ft. by 4 ft. 6 in. There are two fine trees at Powis Castle, the best of 

 which measured 56 ft. by 5 ft. 3 in. in 1906. At Eastnor, a white spruce measures 

 46 ft, by 2 ft. 10 in. 



In the Keillour pinetum, Perthshire, which was planted in 1832, the best P. alba 

 measured 52 ft. by 5|- ft. in 1905. In this poor boggy soil, the West American 

 conifers much surpass both P. alba and P. nigra in growth, the growth of P. 

 sitchensis and Abies grandis being astonishing.' Kent mentions a tree, 45 ft. high, 

 growing on light loam at Dolphinton, Lanarkshire. 



At Fota, a white spruce was 45 ft. by 5 ft. in 1907. 



Timber of the Black, Red, and White Spruces 



In the United States, only the red and white spruce yield merchantable timber, 



the black spruce never attaining large enough dimensions. In Canada the red 



spruce is never mentioned by foresters or lumbermen, and only the white and black 



spruces are said to produce lumber. According to Dr. Lawson, the black spruce is 



1 Quarterly Journal of Forestry, iii. 75 (1909)- ^ "'*"'• "' ^^^ ^'^°^*' 



3 In Trans. Roy. Scot. Arb. Sac. xvi. 473 (1901)- 



* Cf. Crozier's account in Trans. Roy. Scot. Arb. Soc. xxiii. 7-16, plate i (1910), and m our Vo . 1 p. 95- 

 s Cf. our account of the pinetum at KeiUour, in Vol. I. p. 96. Complete details of the original planting operations in 

 1832 at Keillour are given in Proc. Hort. Soc. iii. 297 (1863). 



H 

 VI 



