SETKA SPRUCE: TJSEfc, GROWTH, MANAGEMENT. 31 
• 
In Alaska, on the other hand, the danger of forest fires in the 
spruce belt is not great even in old cuttings because of frequent and 
heavy rains in the summer as well as throughout the rest of the year. 
Slash burning, therefore, is unnecessary and, moreover, highly un- 
desirable, because it destroys the layer of humus and duff with which 
the rock is all too scantily covered in that thin-soiled country. For- 
esters recommend that in Alaska the slash be lopped and allowed to 
lie, and this is the required practice after logging on the national 
forests of the Territory. 
If slash is to be burned in Sitka spruce stands, it is very important 
that it should be done the first spring or fall following logging, so 
that the crop of seedlings which springs up in the first growing sea- 
son after cutting will not be killed by the fire. Slash burning should 
also be done at a time when the weather conditions are such that 
the fire can be held in control on the area which it is intended to burn. 
Further, the slash fire should be hot enough to clean up all the 
inflammable debris. 
PROVISIONS FOR REPRODUCTION. 
Studies of old cuttings indicate that Sitka spruce reproduction 
ordinarily follows the removal of the virgin forest, unless the area 
has been subjected to repeated fires. Reproduction is abundant 
where the slash has not been burned at all, as well as where there 
has been but one slash fire immediately after logging. Sitka spruce 
seems to be represented in the reproduction in as abundant pro- 
portions as it was in the original forest. It is apparent that this 
abundant reproduction following logging comes from seed which 
had accumulated in the ground before the virgin timber was cut T 
had escaped injury from fire (if the slashing was burned), and had 
germinated when the forest floor became exposed to the light and 
warmth of the sun's rays. Because of this adequate store of seed 
in the ground, special provisions for leaving spruce seed trees is not 
essential, provided only that the area is effectively safeguarded from 
fires after this seed germinates. As a precaution in case of an 
accidental fire, and as an added assurance of natural reproduction, 
it is well to leave occasional seed trees of such wind-firm associated 
species as Douglas fir, choosing those which are good seed producers. 
It is not ordinarily advisable to leave single seed trees of Sitka 
spruce, for they are too likely to be wind thrown. To secure some 
of this species in the next crop, reliance must be placed on the seed 
stored in the forest floor and released by the cutting of the virgin 
forest. 
If natural reproduction does not restock an area adequately, it 
may occasionally be advisable in the interest of good management 
