nt
less economical use of the ground.

There may be exceptions to this rule. Good young cedar in forests
which are to be handled under the selection system should be carefully
protected. It can always be utilized and may bring revenue before
anything else can be cut. For the same reason it has been suggested
for planting with fir and white pine, either simultaneously as a
small proportion or later in blank spaces where the others fail.
Under such conditions the main stand will not be modified and the
cedar will afford a valuable adjunct.

SITKA SPRUCE (_Picea sitchensis_)

Although found in the moister mountain regions, this exceedingly
valuable tree seldom occurs to a commercially important extent
except along the coast, where it is common on swales and fertile
benches and in river bottoms often forms pure stands of great density.
Yields of 100,000 feet an acre are not unusual and the trees are
very large. It is also common, although of small size, in swamps.

This spruce reproduces readily in openings, whether made by fire
or cutting. Unthrifty specimens may be found under shade, but
considerable light is necessary for successful development. Even
then, height growth in youth averages slower than that of fir or
hemlock. The leader shoot is likely to die, so that hardly more
than 25 per cent of the young trees establish a regular form of
growth before a height of 20 or 30 feet is reached. 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.

The natural occurrence of Sitka spruce, except in Alaska, is probably
limited chiefly to situations where it escapes competition, in
youth at least, with the more hardy and rapid-growing species. It
has the greatest advantage over these on river bottoms and flats
where there is a dense growth of deciduous brush and where the
soil is very wet in spring. In considering it as a possible second
crop, the same competition must be remembered. Whether seeding is
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