36 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 
poles, 3 or 4 inches in diameter, bore fruit wherever their crowns were 
not directly under the shade of some other trees. One specimen 3 
inches in diameter and about 15 feet high, which had grown in a crowded 
stand and had been given a considerable amount of light by the open- 
ing of a lumber road, was found heavily loaded with fruit. The writer 
once found in Franklin County a small Spruce only 15 years old which 
was bearing cones. This small specimen had, however, grown in an 
open field. Trees growing in open places always bear fruit earlier in 
life and more prolifically than those in dense forests, because in the 
former situations they have more light. They bear also more abun- 
dantly on rich than on poor soil. The Germans usually ascribe to 
trees the greatest capacity to produce seed when their rate of height 
erowth has reached its maximum. In the Adirondacks Spruce begins 
to bear seed when the crown succeeds in reaching the light, and it 
begins to bear heavily when the top of the crown thickens. At first 
a few cones are borne near the main stem below the last year’s growth. 
As the crown thickens and spreads, the cones are borne on the side 
branches. The period of beginning to bear seed may be delayed till 
the trees are 80 or 100 years old, for often they are overtopped and do 
not succeed in growing up into the light before this age. This long 
suppression does not, however, prevent their producing abundant fruit 
when the shade is removed. Spruce continues to bear seed to a great 
age. 
The fact that a tree is unsound does not seem to affect its capacity 
to bear fruit, just as a tree which is unsound may often continue to 
grow rapidly. 
Millions of seeds fall which never germinate. The squirrels and mice 
eat a considerable number, but probably the majority fail to germinate 
because of the lack of certain essential conditions. 
CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR REPRODUCTION. 
Besides the power of the trees to produce seed, the chief essentials 
of good reproduction are a favorable germinating bed and a certain 
amount of light. 
The character of the seed bed is determined by the situation and 
soil, the density of the forest, and by the component species. It makes 
a great difference in the reproduction of many trees whether there is a 
layer of hardwood leaves on the surface of the ground, a matting of 
needles, abundant moss, or no soil covering at all. In dense hardwood 
forests there is always a heavy layer of leaves, and here Spruce has 
great difficulty in obtaining a foothold. It delights, however, in moss 
such as is often found under coniferous trees, but does not thrive as 
well if the soil is very wet. Spruce seed will germinate well also in a 
matting of needles or on bare mineral soil. 
The density of the forest influences reproduction not only by its effect 
on the character of the soil cover, but by controlling the degree of 
