Sitka Spruce in the Retail Yard

By ROIF D. c[ERUtvt West Coost lumbermen's Associoiion

q ITKA SPRUCE has the L, strength-to-weight ratio highestof any odorless and

According to the latest data available, there are approximately 10 billion board feet of Sitka spruce merchantable timber available for harvest.

The above are but three of many sometimes-overlooked and slightly- known facts about Sitka spruce lumber. While the major portion of Sitka spruce production goes into industrial products and specialty items, its qual- ity of appearance and value for fiaming are of interest to all lumber sellers.

The area of growth of Sitka spruce is limited to the North Pacific Coast of North America, where it thrives mostly in virgin stands. Although it carries the same generic name (Picea) as Eastern spruce and Engelmann spruce, Sitka spruce is a separate species with different characteristics and properties.

The industrial uses of Sitka sDruce are numerous and varied. Ladders. garage doors, boat masts and spari and water skis are specialties of -this light and resilient wood, and it has long been used in the manufacture of pianosounding boards and in light aircraft construction.

The pleasing appearance of Sitka spruce, especially in the lower grades, makes it a popular yard item. It is available as boards for sub-floors. sheathing, roof boards and concrete IOrms.

In dimension sizes. it mav be used for heavy roof sheaihing, joists and rafters, studding, plates and other construction members. Because of its high strength-to-weight ratio, it is widely used for scaffold plank.

Sitka spruce also is popular for bevel and bungalow siding. Important for this purpose is its high percentage of heartwood. Its soft, even-grained texture permits nailing without splitting, and it holds paint well, largely because of its non-pitchy character.

The color of the heartwood, which blends gradually into the narrow creamy sapwood, varies from white o_r light pinkish yellow to pale brown. When planed, the surface of the wood shows a silky sheen. These qualities make it .a pleasant and inviting item for interior paneling and trim. -

- Incidentally, the word spruce stems from Prussia, the countf where it was first known as a sepaiate species. As a matter of fact, some Euiopean countries still use the word spruce as a synonym for Prussia.

Universities Plqn Joint Forestry Seminqr

The College, of Forestry of the University of Washington will cooperate with the Yale University School of Forestry in presenting the'seventeenth Yale Industrial Forestry Seminar at S_eattle during the week October 23-27, 196r.

The Seminar will be on the topic "Financial Management of Large Forest Ownerships" and each of the five days will be devoted to a discussion of some phase of this topic under outstanding leaders in the field. Two of these men are Robert V. Hansberger, President of Boise Cascade Corooration and John Fedkiw, Forest Eionomist at the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station.

Enrollment in the Seminar is limited to twenty men whose experience will qualify them for participation.

For additional information write to: Professor Z. W. White, Yale School of Forestry, 205 Prospect Street, New lTaven 11, Conn., or Dean Gordon D. Marckworth, College of Forestry, University of Washington, Seattle 5, Washington.