REPRODUCTION. | 35 
the Adirondacks is found on examination to have passed through this 
umbrella stage. On old windfalls in certain sections, for example, and 
particularly on low flats, many of the old Spruces carry clusters of very 
persistent branches growing close together at 10 or 15 feet above the 
ground. Sach branches mark a period when the crown was flattened 
and umbrella shaped. The present size of these Spruces shows plainly 
how, when the old trees above thein were blown down, they shot up 
and grew thriftily in spite of the severe circumstances of their youth. 
It is true that when trees have attained such a size before being set > 
free the injury to the lumber is serious, for the persistent branches 
entail the loss of a certain amount of clear stuff. If, however, the 
tree is small when freed, the knots from which these branches grew 
may be covered over in time, and lumber of good quality may be 
produced. | 
REPRODUCTION. 
Before determining upon a system of conservative lumbering, a thor- 
ough study must be made of the reproduction of the forest; and before 
advising the owner to leave trees of merchantable size to reseed the 
openings made in lumbering, there must be a certainty that this pur- 
pose will be accomplished. In the present case a strong factor in favor 
of leaving all trees under 10 rather than only those under 8 inches in 
diameter is that there will be a greater number of seed trees, and it is 
proposed, further, to leave a large number of trees over 10 inches in 
diameter to supplement this amount. (See page 67.) This means the 
investment of a certain amount in seed trees. It is, therefore, of the 
first importance to know just what this will accomplish, and whether 
the results will justify the investment. 
THE PRODUCTION OF SEED. 
A certain amount of Spruce seed is produced annually, but the trees 
bear much more heavily in some years than in others. The seed 
usually begins to ripen in October. The cones cling to the trees until 
late in the season, and it is common to find Spruce seed on the surface 
of the late snows in February and March. The seed is light and 
winged, and is carried by the wind to great distances. The most con- 
Spicuous examples of this are seen on high, precipitous mountains 
which have been burned and which in time have become completely 
reseeded to Spruce. The complete restocking of the south slope of 
Salmon Mountain is a case in point. Here the timber was entirely 
destroyed many years ago, and there is now an almost impenetrable 
thicket of Spruce about 6 to 10 feet high. Another striking illustra- 
tion is the restocking of burned islands where the old Spruce has been 
destroyed, and the trees which must have borne the seed are not less 
than one-fourth to one-half mile distant. 
It so happened that in 1898 the Spruce bore an unusual amount of 
fruit. Not only were the large trees loaded with cones, but the small 
