REPORT ON 1958 FOREST TREE 

SEED CROP IN NEW ENGLAND 

No. 86 

1959 

Forest tree seed crops in 1958 were considerably better than those in 1957, according to observers.1 However, 

heavy and medium seed crops of some species were spotty in 

occurrence. Late spring frosts were probably responsible 

for poor or failing crops of some species in Vermont, New 

Hampshire, and northwestern Connecticut. Cone weevils were 

reported damaging the white pine crop in southwestern Maine, 

southern New Hampshire, and central and northwestern Massachusetts. Insects also damaged seed of white spruce in 

northern Maine, balsam fir in south-central Maine, and hemlock locally in south-central Connecticut. 

In general, most conifers produced heavy to medium 

seed crops (table 1). White pine bore a heavy crop general- b ly over Maine (medium in the southwestern part due to cone 

weevil). .Elsewhere in New England, the white pine crop was 

spotty. Production was heavy in parts of northern Vermont, 

Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and light to very light in 

Connecticut and New Hampshire. Failures were noted in , I northern New Hampshire and central Vermont. Red pine had a 

medium crop in parts of Maine and Connecticut and light to a t failure in other areas. . White spruce and balsam fir seed production was medium to heavy in Maine. Fir had a medium crop in Vermont and 

northern Massachusetts. Red spruce was spotty throughout 

the region, with heavy crops confined to parts of Maine and 

Massachusetts. Eastern hemlock was heavy in most of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and in northern New Hampshire, but 

was spotty in the rest of New England. 

'Tamarack seed crop was reported heavy in Maine and 

New Hampshire. Northern white-cedar crops were spotty, with 

medium to heavy crops reported .in Connecticut and parts of 

Maine and Vermont. The crop of eastern redcedar seed was 

heavy in Connecticut and medium in southern Vermont. 

I Among hardwood species, the red and sugar maples bore 

heavy crops in all states, although there were spotty reports of lighter crops. Birch seed crops were also variable. 

l~ased on 38 reports distributed as follows: Maine 14, New Hampshire 6, 

Vermont 5, Massachusetts 8, Rhode Island 1, Connecticut 4. State service (farm) 

foresters, forestry school faculty members, industrial foresters, and U. S. For- 

?st Service personnel of the Research and Administrative Branches cooperated in 

supplying this information. The project was conducted by the Committee on Silviculture, New England Section, Society of American Foresters. 
Table 1.--Forest tree seed crops in New En~land, 1958 

t 

*Seed crops are classified as follows: a 

f = Failure: none, or few seeds on occasional trees. 

vl = Very light: few seeds on 25 percent of the trees. 

1 = Light: few seeds on 75 percent of the trees. 

m = Medium: some seeds on all trees, many on some trees (up to 75 ~ercent). 

h = Heavy: some seeds on all trees, many on most trees (over 75 percent). 

Where a range of classifications is given, a capital letter indicates the classification given in most of the reports. For example, "m-H" indicates that, though 

some reports indicated a medium crop, most indicated a heavy crop. 

Vermont reported medium to heavy crops of black, yellow, and 

white birch. Parts of Maine showed medium crops of yellow 

and white birch. Black birch produced a medium crop in 

- eastern Connecticut. 

Medium crops of red oak acorns were reported from 

Massachusetts, central Vermont, and eastern Connecticut. 

White oak was spotty, with medium crops reported from southeastern Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut, andsouth-central 

Maine. Heavy crops of white ash seed were produced in southcentral Maine, central and northern Vermont. 

The poplars produced heavy crops in northern Vermont, 

northwestern Massachusetts, and eastern Connecticut. The 

beechnut crop was heavy inMassachusetts and eastern Connecticut but only medium in northern Vermont and northern Maine. 

--A. C. HART 

Research Forester 

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station 

Forest Service, U.S. Dept. Agriculture 

Bangor, Maine 

2 AGRICULTURE-FOREST SERVICE-UPPER DARBY 

r. -- 

Species 

White pine 1-H f-L f-h vl-h vl-1 M-h 

Red pine f-m vl f-vl f-1 1 -M - - 

White spruce m-H v 1 1 M-h M-h - - Red spruce vl-h f-vl 1-m M-h m - - Balsam fir m-H vl-m 1-h m -- - - 

Hemlock f-M vl-h L-m m-H 1 -H - - Tamarack h h - - -- -- - - Northern white-cedar f-h f 1-m -- M-h - - Eastern redcedar - - - - m - - h - - 

Red maple vl-H f-H 1-H m-H vl-h h 

Sugar maple vl-M f-H 1-h L-h 1-h - - Black birch - - v 1 M-h m 1 -m - - Yellow birch VL-h 1 M-h m 1 - - \Vhite birch vl-m 1 m m 1 -- 

Red oak vl-L F-vl . 1-m 1-M 1 -M -- White oak f-m -- - - f-m vl-m -- 

Basswood -- -- 1 - - 1 - - Beech f-m f-1 f-m m-H 1-h - - White ash 1-h f-M 1-H L-m f-m - - 

Trembling aspen vl-m f 1-h h m-h - - Bigtooth aspen vl-m -- m-h m m - - 

Elm m-H -- b - - - - - -- Butternut - - -- 1 m - - -- Yellow-poplar - - - - - - - - 1 - - Black cherry - - - - - - - - vl - - i 

Seed crop classification* 

Maine N. H. Vt. Mass. Conn. R. I.