Woodlot Tour:
Tree Growth:
Black Spruce:

The small Black
Spruce located
between the two
popil trees was
planted in 1998.
While Black
Spruce are not
noted for growing
fast, they do not
mind getting their
roots wet and are
VERY hearty trees.
It was a good
choice for this
reforestry effort.
Black Spruce:

This picture shows
a Black Spruce
battered by Moose,
Deer or Turkeys. I
am not sure which
ones eat these
trees, but they have
been ransacked
pretty hard by the
animals looking for
winter food. This
year has been
especially tough,
the snow depths
reaching 180
inches and topping
record snow falls
until 1939.
Hackmatack:

Hackmatack,
larch, juniper...call
it whatever you
want, but this is
my Dad's field
planted in High
Bred Hack. A fast
growing tree, it is
shown here at
well over a foot in
diameter, 50 feet
high and was
planted in 1994.
Hackmatack:

Another picture of
my fathers field
growing up into
hackmatack. The
Forester gives this
tree species 30
cord per acre in a
15 year life span,
and current prices
get 65 dollars per
cord, cut at 8 foot
lengths with a
minimum tree top
of 2 inches.
Hackmatack:

Our gravel pit
field...known as
such because of
the gravel that
abounds here, did
not fair so well.
Slow growth, a
bark beetle
infestation, and
lousy soil made
this tree growing
exercise fruitless
here.
White Pine:

Here is a closer
view of that same
White Pine tree
plantation.
Hackmatack:

This is a picture of
my hackmatack
tree planatation.
The story about
the bark beetle
infestation, the 3-4
tree per acre per
year tree loss, and
growth rates are
all similiar to the
other fields
planted with this
type of tree. The
only difference is
that this field was
planted in
1996...two years
after the other
fields were
planted. Because
of their two year
late start, the
economics of this
tree plantation is
very sad and I am
considering
harvested the tree
before maturity.
Hackmatack:

This field did well,
growing, fast tall
and straight. It
was planted in
1994 as well and
has produced a
good amount of
high quality trees
that seem to be
shruigging off the
Hackmatack bark
Beetle.

The beetle itself
does not kill the
tree, rather sap
suckers come in,
peck the beetles,
and the constant
and numerous
pecking is what
actually does the
tree in. Currently
we are losing
about 3-4 trees
per acre a year by
this bark beetle
infestation.
White Pine:

At first glance it
would seem that
our White Pine
Tree Growth has
done well. That is
not the case
however. These
trees were
planted in the
1940's and never
did very well.
White Pine Blister
Rust attacked the
young trees first,
with the White
Pine Weeevil
taking its toll as
well. For sixty
years of growth,
they proved our
land is not really
condusive to
White Pine
regeneration
efforts despite
being the Pine
Tree State.