comstock] EVERGREENS 9 



seen, but which you feel if you put your hand against the foliage. 

 The fruit of the red cedar is a bluish berry. 



Lesson on the Red Cedar — Describe the foliage of the red cedar giving the 

 shape of the green leaves, as well as the sharply pointed ones. Is the spray of 

 the leaf four sided or cylindrical? Describe the fruit carefully giving its color and 

 form. How many seeds are there in each fruit? What is the wood of the red 

 cedar especially used for? 



BALSAM FIR 



This is the only native fir tree common in the northern United 

 States, though the silver fir of Europe is planted more or less in our 

 parks. Whoever has been fortunate enough to have been in camp 

 in the North Woods, and has reposed upon a bed made from the fra- 

 grant branches of this tree has something delightful to remember. And 

 those who have not used the branches for a bed may have laid their 

 heads upon pillows filled with the dried leaves of this beneficent and 

 health-giving tree. The balsam fir is often planted as a shade tree, 

 and is likely to be found in the yards of farm houses, rising a black 

 and graceful spire far above the house top. This fir may be distin- 

 guished from the spruces by the leaves, which are flat and thin, and 

 very blunt at the tip, and by the fact that the winter buds are pro- 

 tected by a coat of resin, which makes them look as if they were 

 varnished. 



In the Alleghany Mountains from Virginia to Tennessee, occurs 



Fraser's balsam fir which is very much like the northern species. 



Lesson on the Balsam Fir — If you know the balsam fir describe it? Where 

 does Canada balsam, the clear gum in which we mount microscopic objects, 

 come from? How does it occur on the tree? How are the leaves arranged on 

 the twigs, that is, do they project in all directions? When the tree grows in the 

 open is the bole bare for any distance above the ground? How do the trees 

 grown in the woods differ in this respect from those in the open. 



THE SPRUCES 



In the mountains of the Northeastern States these most valuable 

 trees are common. There are three species, the white, the black and 

 the red. The black spruce is so-called because its foliage massed 

 against the mountain side looks black, whereas the white spruce is 

 much lighter in color, being grayish-green. The cones of the white 

 spruce are slender and elongated, being often more than twice as 



