Kraft pulp yields and wood properties of fertilized red spruce

Abstract

Red spruce (Picearubens Sarg.) near Princeton, Maine, U.S.A. fertilized with 168 kg N/h in 1970 increased in volume growth by nearly 50% over pretreatment rates during the 8-year posttreatment period; specific gravity was not affected. Average pulp yield per unit weight of posttreatment wood from fertilized trees was 1.9% greater than average yield from pretreatment wood, but rejects increased by 2.2% and kappa number by 17.7 mL. Average pulp yield per unit weight of posttreatment wood from unfertilized trees was 1.2% less than from pretreatment wood; rejects were 0.4% less and kappa number 2.6 mL higher. Fertilization increased the lignin content of posttreatment wood by about 3% and the resin content by 2%. Ash content also increased after fertilization.

Cell wall thickness and tangential and radial cell diameter of fertilized and irrigated Norway spruce

“…Application of fertilizers, in particular nitrogen, can cause formation of wood with lower density (Shepard et al 1980) and shorter tracheids. Mäki-nen et al (2002) found that fertilized trees had shorter and wider fibres but the difference in fibre width diminished when examined with respect to distance from pith.…”