Fig. 10.—Scheme to Illustrate the arrangement of annual growth. 1, 2, 3, etc., represent the parts of the stem grown during the first, second, third, etc., twenty years of the life of the tree, k, knots; the shaded part of each is the "dead knot" of lumber.
The branches being prevented from spreading out, the shaft is forced to grow upward, and hence, when crowded by others, trees become taller and more cylindrical in form, while in the open, where they can spread, they remain lower and more conical in form (figs. [11], [12]).
There are, to be sure, different natural types of development, some, like the walnuts, oaks, beeches, and the broad-leaved trees generally, having greater tendency to spread than others, like spruces, firs, and conifers in general, which lengthen their shaft in preference to spreading, even in the open. This tendency to spreading is also influenced by soil conditions and climate, as well as by the age of the tree. When the trees cease to grow in height, their crowns broaden, and this takes place sooner in shallow soils than in deep, moist ones; but the tendency can be checked and all can be made to develop the shaft at the expense of the branches by proper shading from the sides.
It follows that the forest planter, who desires to produce long and clean shafts and best working quality of timber, must secure and maintain side shade by a close stand, while the landscape gardener, who desires characteristic form, must maintain an open stand and full enjoyment of light for his trees.
Now, as we have seen, different species afford different amounts of shade, and in proportion to the shade which they afford can they endure shade. The beech or sugar maple or spruce, which maintain a large amount of foliage under the dense shade of their own crown, show that their leaves can live and functionate with a small amount of light. They are shade-enduring trees. On the other hand, the black walnut, the locust, the catalpa, the poplars, and the larch show by the manner in which their crowns thin out, the foliage being confined to the ends of the branches, that their leaves require more light—they are light-needing trees; so that the scale which arranges the trees according to the amount of shade they exert serves also to measure their shade endurance.
In making, therefore, mixed plantations, the different kinds must be so grouped and managed that the shady trees will not outgrow and overtop the light-needing; the latter must either have the start of the former or must be quicker growers.
| Fig. 11.—Oak tree grown in the open. | Fig. 12.—Maple tree grown in the forest. |