Table S . - -Pevoentile Christmas tree production by grade and size at different looations 





Total 





Grade 







Size classes 





I oca 1 1 on ^ * 



















Premi um 



Standard 



Utility 



2- and 4-ft. 



: 6- and 8-ft. 



: 10- and 12-ft. 



Eureka 



70 



2 



30 



38 



37 



33 







Kalispell 



75 



2 



23 



50 



18 



55 



2 



Greenough 



55 







20 



35 



12 



38 



5 



Plains 



45 







10 



35 



8 



35 



2 



Average 



61 



1 



21 



39 



19 



40 



1 



Expressed as a percent of total possible. 



■Ten-year production records for the Lolo area are not complete. 



The height growth reduction caused by the pruning apparently resulted in smaller 



merchantable tree sizes (table 7). The total number of merchantable trees that fell in 

 the 2- through 8- foot classes were identical on pruned and unpruned trees. However, 



more of the pruned trees fell in the 2- and 4-foot classes and fewer in 6- and 8-foot 

 classes than the unpruned. 



Eureka and Kalispell, the two northernmost study areas, produced the most Christmas 

 trees. Nearly three-fourths of the total number of potential Christmas trees on these 

 two areas reached merchantability during the 10-year study period compared to about one- 

 half of the potential trees at Greenough and Plains (table 8). In addition, tree quality 

 was also best at these two northern areas. About twice as many standard- or premium- 

 grade trees were produced there as at Greenough and Plains. Production of utility-grade 

 trees was about the same on all of the areas. 



Thicket Thinning 



Total Christmas tree production from the thicket thinnings was directly proportion- 

 al to the number of trees per acre in the original stand. Between 7 and 8 percent of 

 the original stands, regardless , of thinning treatment, produced merchantable Christmas 

 trees sometime during the 10-year study period, either in the initial or subsequent 

 harvests (table 9). Thus, the thickets that had the most trees per acre initially 

 produced the greatest total number of Christmas trees. 



Production from subsequent harvests was directly related to the number of trees 

 left after thinning. About 8 percent of the reserve stand produced Christmas trees in 

 the 10-year period following thinning (table 9). 



During the first 10 years, the most pronounced effect of different thinning inten- 

 sities was the shift in the time of harvest (table 9) . Most of the Christmas trees on 

 the heavily thinned plots came from the initial thinning, while in the lightly thinned 

 plots, nearly all of them came from subsequent harvests. Production on the medium 

 thinnings was more evenly distributed during the study period. 



No differences in tree grade or size could be detected between the three thinning 

 treatments or on the different areas. Over half of the trees were standard grade, and 

 most of the remainder were utility grade. Only 4 percent were premium-grade trees. 

 Over three- fourths of the trees were in the 2- and 4-foot classes (table 10). 



11 



