14 



While a large amount of dead spruce was observed throughout the 

 area traversed, that which was then dying, or had died within the past 

 one to four or five years, is limited to well-defined areas of greater or 

 less extent, in different sections, hut always involving the best stands 

 and largest timber. 



The dead spruce is not confined to any particular condition of soil, 

 exposure, or altitude, but is found under all conditions, from bogs to 

 high, exposed, rocky slopes, or whenever the trees attain a diameter 

 of over 12 inches. 



SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DYIXG AND DEAD SPRUCE. 



When the trees commence to die, the first indication in their general 

 appearance is a pale tint of the leaves on the upper branches and tops. 

 These soon fall, e^en before they lose their green color. When the 

 trees are in this stage of decline, the wind or a slight jar, as with an 

 ax, will cause a shower of the needles to fall, and the ground will be 

 covered with them. After the leaves have fallen, the dead twigs 

 present a reddish appearance, rendering them quite distinct and easily 

 recognized from a distance, when A'iewed from an elevated point. 

 They gradually assume a light-gray appearance, followed by a darker 

 gray; then, a few years later — the actual time not yet determined — ■ 

 the twigs begin to fall; later the branches, and still later the tops 

 break off. Finally, after many years — ten to twenty or more, depend- 

 ing on the soundness of the base and roots — the decaying trunk will 

 topple over, and contribute to the food supply of the young genera- 

 tion of trees, which have sprung up to utilize the sunlight thus made 

 available. 



Trees with diseased roots usually fall before they have lost their 

 small branches, and the wood probably decays far more rapidly than 

 in those with sound roots. 



The only way the declining, dying, and recently dead trees can be 

 recognized from the trail, or in going through the woods, when the 

 tops come between the observer and the sky, is by the fine dust in the 

 outer bark and moss near the base, the pitch tubes on the bark from 

 near the base up' to 10 or 20 feet, the falling or fallen leaves, or the 

 work of woodpeckers. The removal of the outer bark by the birds in 

 search of insects makes the reddish inner bark conspicuous, even on 

 living trees, when they show no other indication of decline. Indeed, 

 the trees on which the birds have been at work stand out distinct, and 

 can be seen for a long distance in the woods. 



CAUSES OF DECAY AND DEATH. 



There are two causes of decay and death, one or both of which 

 affected each of the many hundreds of trees examined: (1) The work 

 of an insect in the bark on the middle trunk, causing the death of the 



