CONTENTS 



Page 



INTRODUCTION 1 



CULTURAL METHODS TESTED 1 



Stump Culture 2 



Basal Pruning 3 



Thicket Thinning . 4 



STUDY RESULTS 5 



Stump Culture . 5 



Basal Pruning 7 



Thicket Thinning 11 



CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 



LITERATURE CITED 17 



ABSTRACT 



A 10-year study of three commonly used Christmas tree culture 

 methods — stump culture, basal pruning, and thicket thinning — in 

 natural stands of Douglas-fir in Montana showed that quantity 

 and quality of trees can be increased. Stump culture, featuring 

 upturned branches or adventitious shoots, produced large high 

 quality trees rapidly. Trees originating from branch turnups 

 reached larger sizes earlier than those from shoots. Basal 

 pruning reduced height growth in direct proportion to the amount 

 of crown removal for 5 to 10 years but demonstrated no corres- 

 ponding increase in quantity or quality of the trees produced on 

 the relatively low quality sites represented in the study. Douglas- 

 fir thickets produced many Christmas trees in the initial thinnings 

 and subsequent harvests, but they were small medium quality 

 trees. Light to moderate thinnings maintained the stand in better 

 condition for future production than heavy thinning. 



