Spruce forest

“ One cone-shaped spruce had a base diameter of four feet and came to a point a few inches less than four feet above the earth. Here and there a tough, tall tree manages to stand erect. The high wind either prevents growing or trims off all limbs that do not point to leeward. Some appear as though molded and pressed into shape. A profile of others, with long, streaming-bannered limbs, gives a hopeful view, for they present an unconquerable and conscious appearance, like tattered pennants or torn, triumphant battle-flags of the victorious forest! ”

“ An ancient spruce tree, one that had watched the forest drama for uncounted years, whose tall head lifted above all the surrounding forest and who had known the silence and the snow of a hundred winters, had languished, withered and died from sheer old age. ”

“ The white spruce forest along the banks is most inspiring, magnificent here. Down the terraced slopes and right to the water's edge on the alluvial soil it stands in ranks. ”

“ In the East the same tendency is illustrated by the better sections of the Adirondack spruce forests and the splendid pineries that once covered the Great Lake region. If we call to mind these extensive examples, we realize how the conifers ever strive to build a dense and impenetrable forest. That they are capable of a like growth in other parts of the world also, will be attested by those who have seen the spruce and fir forests of Germany and France. ”

“ On these steep places the birch and maple will not grow, or at least they occur but sparsely. The higher slopes and sharp ridges of the mountains are always covered with soft-wood timber. Spruce and hemlock and balsam strike their roots among the rocks, and find a hidden nourishment. They stand close together; thickets of small trees spring up among the large ones; from year to year the great trunks are falling one across another, and the undergrowth is thickening around them, until a spruce forest seems to be almost impassable. ”

“ It is by far the most majestic spruce I ever beheld in any forest, and one of the largest and longest lived of the giants that flourish throughout the main pine belt, often attaining a height of nearly 200 feet, and a diameter of six or seven. Where the growth is not too close, the strong, spreading branches come more than halfway down the trunk, and these are hung with innumerable slender, swaying sprays, that are handsomely feathered with the short leaves which radiate at right angles all around them. ”

“ Nearby is a stretch of burned land covered thinly with second growth saplings, and near the edge of the evergreen forest in which we will build our camp stands plenty of dead timber, tamarack, white spruce, and a few pine stubs, all of which will make excellent firewood. In the forest itself we find straight spruce trees, both large and small, balsam, and a few white birches, the loose bark of which will make the best kindling known. ”

“ The seeds are winged, and the wind scatters them. They germinate best on humus. In spruce forests, clumps of seedlings are often seen where logs have decayed and fallen to dust. Seedlings do not thrive on mineral soil, and for that reason red spruce makes a poor showing where fires have burned. It does not spread vigorously in old fields as white pine does. It must have forest conditions or it will do little good. For that reason it does not promise great things for the future. It grows very slowly, and land owners prefer white pine, where that species will grow. ”

“ For many hundreds of miles we passed through the midst of these enduring spruce forests, the narrow track whose path has been roughly cleared by burning, extending with its thin thread of iron through their densest growth, lost through their trackless depths. On either side of the clearing though these, mighty forests, there is a belt of blackened stumps of grey, armless stems, where the fire has passed over them. Sometimes even there will be one green living tree left standing among the dead. ”

“ It may be observed in traveling through the stands of mixed spruce and fir among the high ranges of the southern Appalachian mountains that the proportion of spruce is much higher in old stands than in young. ”

“ Farther seaward the vegetation becomes more dense and the flowers cover the whole surface, giving it the appearance of a luxuriant meadow. Still farther toward the margin dense clumps of alder, with scattered spruce trees, become conspicuous, while on the outer margin spruce trees of larger size form a veritable forest. That this vegetation actually grows on the moraines above a living glacier is proved beyond all question by holes and crevasses which reveal the ice beneath. ”

“ The cedar, the hemlock, the Douglas fir, and the Engelmann’s spruce are most conspicuous and form the chief part of the forest trees. Each of these species here attains a diameter of from three feet upward, even to six or seven, and a height of from 150 to 200 feet.
Nothing is more enjoyable than to take one of the mountain trails and enter the depths of the forest, there to rest in quiet contemplation where trees alone are visible in the limited circle of view. ”

“ The varieties of trees along the lower part of the river are few, spruce, with a few small tamarack, some small birch, and a few poplar constituting the bulk of the forest. The spruce far outnumber all the rest. On some of the islands there is much shrubbery, willows, and alders growing in profusion in the swampy places ”

“ Even the trees most tolerant of shade in youth, like spruce, must have light later or perish, and hence in a forest there is the constant upward reach. This produces the characteristic "long-bodied" trunk of the forest tree, Fig. 71, in contrast to the "short-bodied" tree of the open, where the branches reach out in all directions, Fig. 72. In this constant struggle for existence is involved the persistent attempt of scattered seeds to sprout whenever there is an opening. The result is that a typical forest is one in which all sizes and ages of trees grow together. ”

“ The larger spruce of West Virginia and the mountain region farther south, has certain qualities of strength and texture, combined with a large percentage of clear lumber that is not approximated by the spruce of New England and the British maritime provinces. In shape the tree is pyramidal, with spreading branches. ”

“ The forester usually gets over these difficulties by planting beech, or silver fir, or some other species among the oaks, but in such a way that the oaks are never completely shaded by the other trees—that is to say, he keeps the trees at different ages, the beach, hornbeam, silver fir, spruce, etc., only being allowed to just close in the forest, leaving the leaf-crowns of the oaks to be fully exposed to the light above. ”

“ The manufacturers say, with hand on heart, that they do not use much wood pulp, but when one has passed a great paper-mill flanked on all sides by piles of spruce logs, with no bales of rags in sight anywhere, he is tempted to think otherwise! Modern forestry is now planting trees on waste lands for the pulp "crop," and the common poplar is coming in to relieve the spruces.
Beautiful trees are these spruces and firs, either in the forest or when brought by the planter to his home grounds. The leaves are much shorter than those of most pines, and clothe the twigs closely. ”

“ The country around is covered with a majestic grove, composed of towering Pines, Rock-maple, and the various Birches, Spruce, Fir, &c. Where the attempt has been made, the soil is found to be exceedingly productive. Its principal products are square timber, hewn from the giant Pines found upon its borders, and sugar, produced from the sap of the Rock-maple, magnificent groves of which grow upon its banks. Beds of iron ore are found in its vicinity, and in some places limestone abounds ”

“ After this stage spruce grows uniformly and rapidly, still somewhat slower than fir in height but exceeding it in diameter. The branches are slow to die, however, so that the tree remains bushy for most of its length until it reaches 60 or 80 feet in height, and even afterward a dense stand is required to clear it. In many pure spruce forests the larger trees have been able to withstand the pruning influences and remain limby, while the smaller ones, being pushed in height growth to reach sufficient light for survival, have cleared themselves with remarkable rapidity. ”

“ In many districts the spruce and the pine appear to be usurping the place of the other forest trees mainly because the young plants are less eagerly devoured by browsing animals, especially the goats. Below 4000 feet on the northern slopes and 5000 feet or a little over on the south side of the Alps may be described as the region of forest trees, and above this level the ordinary deciduous trees become dwarfed and scarce. ”

“ U. S. Forest Service.
On the other hand, every species of tree has its own requirements in respect to these very factors of temperature,—moisture, soil and light. These are called its silvical characteristics.
SOIL.
Some trees, as black walnut, flourish on good soil, supplanting others because they are better able to make use of the richness of the soil; while some trees occupy poor soil because they alone are able to live there at all. Spruce, Fig. 56, will grow in the north woods on such poor soil that it has no competitors, and birches, too, will grow 213 anywhere in the north woods. ”

“ Sometimes it [226] has as good an effect, and in many circumstances a better, when the contrast appears still stronger; when the tree is shattered by some accident, has lost many of its branches, and is scathed and ragged. A feathery branch, here and there, among broken stems, has often an admirable effect; but it must arise from some particular situation. In all circumstances, however, the Spruce Fir appears best either as a single tree, or unmixed with any of its fellows; for neither it, nor any of the spear-headed race, will ever form a beautiful clump without the assistance of other trees. ”

“ In the markets, no distinction is made between white spruce lumber, and that cut from other species. The uses of the different species are much the same. As a pulpwood, white spruce is in demand wherever it is available. The largest output in the United States comes from northern New England. The tree is often planted for ornamental purposes in Europe and in northern states. When grown in the open, the crown is pyramidal, like that of balsam fir. It does not thrive where summers are warm and dry. ”

“ When an ascent is to be made, the Spruce-tree is generally selected, principally for the superior facilities which its numerous limbs afford the climber. To gain the first limbs of this tree, which are from twenty to forty feet from the ground, a smaller tree is undercut and lodged against it, clambering up which the top of the Spruce is reached. In some cases, when a very elevated position is desired, the Spruce-tree is lodged against the trunk of some lofty Pine, up which we ascend to a height twice that of the surrounding forest. ”

“ There are at best only five species of timber of high economic general importance, the (Scotch) pine which covers large areas in the northern sandy plain and the lighter soils in the south; the (Norway) spruce and (Silver) fir which form forests in the southwestern and other mountain regions and represent, in mixture with broadleaf forest, a goodly proportion in the northeastern lowlands; the (English) oak, of which botanically two species are recognized; and the beech. ”

“ At sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tang of fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green; and the man who glided on under the great trees seemed to blend with the colors and, disappearing, to have become a part of the wild woodland. ”

“ Of the broadleaf forests there are many types. There are forests of oak and chestnut, of maple and beech; dry upland forests, and the tangled woods of the swamps. There are young thickets of birch and aspen, of willow and alder, and scrubby oak barrens. There are second-growth forests, and now and then even a patch of fine old virgin timber. In size, also, there is a great difference, from the grove that covers the hilltop to the unbroken forest that stretches over an entire mountain range. ”

“ The finest beech-wood is that of Mark Ash. There you may see true beech-forms, the boles spangled with silver scales of lichen, and the roots—more fangs than roots—grasping the earth, feathered with the soft green down of moss.
But not in individual trees lies the beauty of the Forest, but in the masses of wood. There, in the long aisles, settles that depth of shade which no pencil can give, and that colouring which no canvas can retain, as the sunlight pierces through the green web of leaves, flinging, as it sets, a crown of gold round each tree-trunk. ”

“ Trees of eight feet diameter are at least three hundred years old, and rare ones, much larger, have been cut showing an age of more than five centuries.
To these areas of the greatest trees must come all who would know the real spirit of the forest, at once beneficent and ruthless. Here nature selects the fittest. The struggle for soil below and light above is relentless. The weakling, crowded and overshadowed, inevitably deepens the forest floor with its fallen trunk, adding to the humus that covers the lavas, and nourishing in its decay the more fortunate rival that has robbed it of life. ”

“ The lower limbs die young and drop off for want of light. Life with these close-planted trees is a race for light, more light, and so they push straight for the sky. Mowing off ten feet from the top of the forest would make it look like a crowded mass of telegraph-poles; for only the sunny tops are leafy. A sapling ten years old, growing in the sunshine, has as many leaves as a crowded tree one or two hundred years old. As fires are multiplied and the mountains become drier, this wonderful lodge-pole pine bids fair to obtain possession of nearly all the forest ground in the West. ”