THE RED SPRUCE. 67 
inferior to straight nursery-grown stock; and the expense of trans- 
planting, tending in the nursery lines, and grading would bring then* 
cost up to that of the more satisfactory nursery-grown seedlings. 
SPACING IN PLANTING. 
For general commercial planting a spacing of 5 by 6 feet or 6 by 6 
feet apart is recommended. Moderately close planting is necessary 
with spruce to stimulate its growth in height and to provide for the 
closing of the crown cover and suppression of its lower branches. 
Such a stand properly thinned should show a final yield in 45 years 
of from 32 to 55 cords per acre in addition to the intermediate yields 
from thinnings. Wider planting, as, for instance, 8 by 8 feet or 8 by 
10 feet, is advocated in some quarters to obviate the necessity of 
thinning under a short rotation for the production of pulpwood. 
The timber produced b}^ such a method would be short, big-butted, 
with a quick taper, and clothed with green, or at best poorly sup- 
pressed, dead branches well down to the ground. Such a stand 
might be expected to yield between three-fourths and 1 cord per acre 
per annum with a 30 to 35 year rotation. 
ROTATION. 
Some consideration has already been given to the rotation in con- 
nection with the discussion of methods of cutting and of thinnings. 
As indicated in Table 17, a rotation of from od to 60 years under 
average, natural, even-aged conditions will yield a maximum of 
pulpwood volume. Judicious tlrinnings should reduce this rotation 
from 5 to 10 years, increasing the gross volume, including the volume 
of yield from thinnings, at the same time. For saw timber and dimen- 
sion stuff a rotation of from 100 to 120 years should yield a satisfac- 
tory return under management for selection as well as even-aged 
forest conditions, as shown by Tables 15 and 16. In the case of 
selection forests, of course, the quantitative yield would be small as 
compared to even-aged stands, but this disadvantage should be 
offset to an appreciable extent by the better than average quality 
yield. 
