Experiment on Snow Crown of Japanese Larch (2)

Abstract

A comparative observation of the weights of snow crown was made on test larch trees 15, 25, 42 and 53 years in age. As a result of the comparison of the weights of snow crown in terms of load per unit area shaded by crown, any difference in weight of snow crown due to the difference in tree age could not be ascertained clearly, and as far as the 15, 25 and 42 years old trees are concerned, the weight of snow crown seemed to increase or decrease in relation to the length of branches and twigs. In the case of the 53 years old tree showing the largest weight of snow crown among all the test trees, it was found that drooping of limbs with increasing weight of snow crown was slow and the duration in and near a drooped condition when the unit shaded area becomes largest was by far longer than other test trees younger in age.