Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/234

 F I R stakes and small poles when cut out. Fui % hop-poles it is not so well adapted as the larch. As a picturesque tree, for park and ornamental plantation, it is among the best of the conifers, its colour and form contrasting yet harmoniz ing with the olive green and rounded outline of oaks and beeches, or with the red trunk and glaucous foliage of the pine. When young its spreading boughs form good cover for game. The fresh branches, with their thick mat of foliage, are useful to the gardener for sheltering wall- fruit in the spring. In a good soil and position the tree sometimes attains an enormous size : one in Studley Park, Yorkshire, was, a few years back, nearly 140 feet in height, and the trunk more than 6 feet in thickness near the ground. The spruce bears the smoke of great cities better than most of the Abiefinci ; but in suburban localities after a certain age it soon loses its healthy aspect, and is apt to 1)3 affected with blight (Eriosoma), though not so much as the Scotch fir and most of the pines. The Black Spruce (Abies nigra) is a tree of more formal growth than the preceding. The branches grow at a more acute angle and in more regular whorls than those of the fir of Norway; and, tliDugh the lower ones become bent to a horizontal position, they do not droop, so that the tree has a much less elegant appearance. The leaves, which grow very thickly all round the stem, are short, nearly quadrangular, and of a dark greyish green. The cones, produced in great abundance, are short and oval in shape, the scales with rugged indented edges ; they are deep purple when young, but become brown as they ripen. The tree abounds throughout New England, Nova Scotia, and all the countries around the St Lawrence, in Canada grow ing up to 65, in all these regions often forming a large part of the dense forests. A variety with lighter foliage and reddish bark is common in Newfoundland and some districts on the mainland adjacent. The trees usually grow very close together, the slender trunks rising to a great height bare of branches ; but they do mt attain the size of the Norway spruce, being seldom taller than 60 or 70 feet, with a diameter of li or 2 feet at the base. This species prefers a peaty soil, and often grows luxuriantly in very moist situations. The wood is strong, light, and very elastic, forming an exc3llent matsrial for small masts and spars, for which purpose the trunks are used in America, and exported largely to England. Tha sawn timber is inferior to that of A. excelsa, besides being of a smaller size. In the countries in. which it abounds, the log-houses of the settlers are often built of the long straight trunks. The spruce-beer of America is generally made from the young shoots of this tree. The small twigs, lied in bundles, are boiled for some time in water with broken biscuit or roasted grain ; the resulting decoction is then poured into a cask with molasses, or maple sugar, and a little yeast, and left to ferment. It is often made by the settlers and fishermen of the St Lawrence countries, being esteemed as a preventive of scurvy. The American &quot;essence of spruce,&quot; occasionally used in England for making spruce-beer, is obtained by boiling the shoots and buds and concentrating the decoction. The resinous pro ducts of the tree are of no great value. The White Spruce (Abies alba), sometimes met with in English plantations, is a tree of lighter growth than the black spruce, the branches being more widely apart ; the foliage is of a light glaucous green ; the small light-brown cones are more slender and tapering than in A. nigra, and the scales have even edges. It is of comparatively small .size, but is of some importance in the wilds of the Canadian dominion, where it is found further north than any other tree, growing up to at least 09 ; the slender trunks yield the only useful timber of some of the more desolate northern regions. In the woods of Canada it occurs frequently, mingled with the black spruce and other trees. The fibrous tough roots, softened by soaking in water, and split, are used by the Indians and voyageurs to sew together the birch-bark covering of their canoes ; and a resin that exudes from the bark is employed to varnish over the seams. The Hemlock Spruce (A. canadensis) is a large tree, abounding in most of the north-eastern parts of America up to Labrador ; in Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia it is often the prevailing tree. The short leaves are flat, thos? above pressed close to the stem, and the others forming two rows ; they are of a rather light green tint above, whitish beneath. The cones are very small, ovate, and pointed. The large branches droop, like those of the Norway spruce, but the sprays are much lighter and more slender, rendering the tree one of the most elegant of the conifers, especially when young. When old, the branches, broken and bent down by the winter snows, give it a ragged but very picturesque aspect. The trunk is frequently three feet thick near the base. The hemlock prefers rather dry and elevated situations, often forming woods on the declivities of mountains. The timber is very much twisted in grain, and liable to warp and split, but is used for making plasterers laths and for fencing ; &quot; shingles &quot; for roofing are sometimes made of it. The bark, split off in May or June, forms one of the most valuable tanning substances in Canada. The sprays are sometimes used for making spruce-beer and essence of spruce. The Douglas Spruce (A. Douylasn) is one of the finest trees of the genus, often rising to a height of 200 feet and sometimes considerably more, while the gigantic trunk frequently measures 8 or 10 feet across. The yew-like leaves spread laterally, and are of a deep green tint ; the cones are furnished with tridentate bracts that project far beyond the scales. It forms extensive forests in Van couver s Island, British Columbia, and Oregon, whence the timber is exported, being highly prized for its strength, durability, and even grain, though very heavy ; it is of a deep yellow colour, abounding in resin, which oozes from the thick bark. It was introduced into Britain soon after its discovery by Douglas, and has been planted in some parts of the kingdom experimentally, but does not appear to flourish well in the climate of England generally, though individual plants may be occasionally seen in good condition in ornamental shrubberies. Of the Picea group, the Silver Fir (P. pedinata) may be taken as the type, a lofty tree, rivalling the Norway spruce in size, with large spreading horizontal boughs curv ing upward towards the extremities. The flat leaves are arranged in two regular, distinct rows ; they are deep green above, but beneath have two broad white lines, which, as the foliage in large trees has a tendency to curl upwards, give it a silvery appearance from below. The large cones stand erect on the branches, are cylindrical in shape, and have long bracts, the curved points of which project beyond the scales. When the tree is young the bark is of a silvery grey, but gets rough with age. This tree appears to have been the true &quot;Abies&quot; of the Latin writers the &quot; pul- cherrima abies &quot; of Virgil. From early historic times it lias been held in high estimation in the south of Europe, being used by the liomans for masts and all purposes for which timber of great length was required. It is at present abundant in most of the mountain ranges of southern and central Europe, but is not found in the northern parts of that continent. In Asia it occurs on the Caucasus and Ural, and in some parts of the Altaic chain. Extensive woods of this fir exist on the southern Alps, where the tree grows up- to nearly 4000 feet; in the Rhine countries it forms great part of the extensive forest of the Hochwald,