THE RED SPRUCE 
Issued October 31, 1917. 
ITS GROWTH AND MANAGE- 
MENT. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Uses of spruce 1 
Amount and value of spruce cut and im- 
ported 3 
Present stand of spruce 7 
Value of spruce and spruce stumpage 7 
Range and distribution 10 
Forest types 11 
Second growth stands of spruce 14 
Soil and moisture requirements 14 
Light requirements 15 
Windfirmness 15 
Page, 
Reproduction 16 
Form 22 
Length of life and maximum size 22 
Susceptibility to injury 23 
Growth 29 
Stands and yields 41 
Methods of cutting 45 
Brush disposal 59 
Sowing and planting 64 
Rotation 67 
Appendix 6S 
INTRODUCTION. 
Spruce is one of the most important woods in the Eastern United 
States. It grows on large areas in pure or nearly pure stands, is 
distributed over many of the Northern States, and extends into the 
southern Appalachians at the higher altitudes. It is used more than 
any other wood in the manufacture of paper, and supplies a large 
amount of lumber and other material. 
Various methods of forest management for spruce have been 
adopted by large lumber and pulp companies, of which spruce often 
forms the principal cut. The chief purpose of this bulletin is to 
formulate definite systems of forest management for various con- 
ditions. 1 
USES OF SPRUCE. 
Early in the history of the first New England settlement spruce 
became established as a valuable wood in shipbuilding, for framing, 
topmasts, and yards; and, where oak became scarce in the vicinity 
of the northern shipyards, it was used for ship knees. It soon found 
its way also into the export trade and was sent to the shipyards of 
1 The author's field investigations had to do chiefly with the spruce as it occurs in second growth. Ac- 
cordingly .except for a reproduction study made in connection with the remeasurement of spruce permanent 
sample plots, the data and discussions concerning old growth or virgin conditions are based largely on an 
office study (1) of the material available in publications, of which the most important are the Adirondack 
Spruce, by Gifford Pinchot, Practical Forestry in the Adirondacks, by Henry S. Graves (Bulletin 26, 
Division of Forestry, U. S. Department of Agriculture), and the various annual forestry reports of Maine, 
New Hampshire, and New York, and (2) of the various unpublished data on spruce which have been 
collected by members of the Forest Service in times past. 
84949°— Bull. 544—17—1 
