In research initiated at The Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OSU/OARDC) in the early 1970s, trees of balsam fir, from four different areas and planted on four sites having varying internal soil drainage characteristics, were compared (Brown, 1983). In that study, trees of the Canaan Valley, West Virginia source - "Canaan Fir" - (Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis)1 had several characteristics that made them desirable for planting as Christmas trees, including: (1) they leafed out much later in the spring and were damaged less by spring frosts than trees of New York and Pennsylvania origins (Abies balsamea var. balsamea)1 and were also less affected than were trees of Fraser fir from a North Carolina origin (Abies balsamea var. fraseri)1; (2) trees had more lateral limbs between the "annual whorls" than did trees of the other sources, giving them a fuller and more dense appearance; and (3) in those plantings having moderately well to somewhat poorly drained soils, trees of the West Virginia origins survived much better than did those of the North Carolina source; on the site having somewhat poorly drained soils, trees of the West Virginia origin did not survive as well as those of the New York and Pennsylvania origins.
At the conclusion of that study, the need was recognized for additional research to evaluate the adaptability of trees of the West Virginia source of balsam fir to a fuller range of soil/site conditions.