• Wolcott, Michael P.
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

Intensive management is being increasingly used to grow wood faster in the spruce fir forest of Maine. Because age of wood formation and growth rate are believed to affect the wood properties in some species, it was deemed necessary to determine the effect of a commercial thinning on selected mechanical properties of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg). Conventional strength analysis is often unsatisfactory in wood quality studies because it is not conducive to testing small amounts of wood or pieces of wood with varying dimensions; therefore, the use of micro-bending specimens was developed.