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
natural or artificial, the extent to which it will hold its own
with any considerable quantity of other species is doubtful. If
such are present and the situation is adapted to them, any expensive
effort to get spruce merely by modifying methods of logging or
handling the slash is certainly likely to be disappointing. Under
the conditions mentioned as peculiarly favorable for spruce, gradual