Figure 1. --Location 

 of test plots 

 used in study. 



Stump Culture 



Stump culture is an intriguing practice that likely developed more by chance than 

 by design. If live branches are left on the stumps of small Douglas-fir trees after 

 cutting, the stumps often remain alive and produce new trees from adventitious shoots 

 or branch turnups. Using proper culture treatment, these have potential value as 

 Christmas trees. This study phase had two primary objectives: (1) to determine if 

 stump culture treatments favoring either branch turnups or adventitious shoots were 

 equally effective in producing Christmas trees, and (2) to determine when stumps could 

 be cultured most effectively; 0, 1, 2, or 3 years after the original tree was cut. 



The original trees, which averaged 12 to 16 feet in height, were cut with a hand- 

 saw about 3 to 4 feet above ground and 3 to 4 inches above a good branch whorl. Stumps 

 treated to favor branch turnups were trimmed to feature one large vigorous branch in 

 the top whorl leaving 5 to 7 vigorous, alternate branches in the lower whorls. Stumps 

 treated to favor adventitious shoots were trimmed so that all the branches on the 

 upper 18 inches, and all but 5 to 7 vigorous, alternate branches in the lower whorls 

 were removed (fig. 2) . 



Five to 7 years later, most of the featured branches had turned up, or adven- 

 titious shoots had formed and whorls were developing. At that time, excess branches, 



2 



