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1 Dendroecological techniques were used to examine the patterns of canopy recruitment in relation to disturbance history for two dominant, yet ecologically contrasting, tree species, Pinus strobus (white pine; disturbance dependent) and Tsuga canadensis (hemlock; late successional), in a 300-year-old primary forest. 2 Most tree recruitment in both species occurred between 1690 and 1810. All of the white pine, which dominated recruitment during the first 40 years due to more rapid height growth, recruited in this period. Low levels of hemlock recruitment continued until 1900. Most of the younger trees comprised several northern hardwood species. No trees were less than 50 years old and the forest was devoid of an understorey due to intense deer browsing. 3 Radial growth chronologies were determined for 27 cores across all species and age classes. These exhibited 1-11 major and/or moderate releases (indicative of …