1885.] PICEA PECTINATA. 513 



" The silver fir delights in good soils, whether of a loamy or sandy 

 nature, inclining to moist, and it prefers a high altitude with shelter; 

 and in such situations we find some of the finest specimens recorded 

 in Scotland. It is not, however, unsuited to lower situations, 

 provided the subsoil be not water-logged ; and it is found in some 

 localities on the west coast of Scotland, of very large dimensions 

 quite near the sea-level. 



"When young, the silver fir is apt to lose its leading shoot from 

 the effects of late spring frosts, and hence we find in almost every 

 district where it is grown, double-headed trees, giving them the 

 appearance when old of belonging to a species of which this was the 

 natural habit of growth. Another peculiarity of growth in the 

 silver fir frequently to be met with consists in the tree throwing out 

 very large limbs horizontally from the bole for a considerable 

 distance, which then suddenly assume a perfectly perpendicular 

 direction, the bend or ' knee ' thus formed by the limb being almost 

 a right angle. This is very marked in almost all the silver firs 

 growing at Ardkinglass, Argyllshire, where there are many noble 

 specimens. Another very striking instance of this peculiarity of 

 growth occurs at Conishead Priory, in Cumberland. This very 

 peculiar-looking specimen measures in circumference, at 1 foot from 

 the ground, 14 feet 4 inches, and at 3 feet, 13 feet 4 inches, and 

 where it throws out the large limb it is 12 feet 4 inches. This 

 quaint limb projects 19 feet from the trunk horizontally, and is 8 

 feet 8 inches in girth at the stem, and 8 feet 3 inches at the knee 

 or elbow; the main trunk of the tree is 76 feet high, and the height 

 of the erect stem of the side limb is not less than 6 5 feet. 



" Notwithstanding these peculiarities of habit, the silver fir is a 

 noble ornamental tree, and as such has been planted probably more 

 than as a remunerative timber tree. Tiiis is, however, to be 

 regretted, for in some instances to which we can point, where it has 

 been planted largely and solely with a view to profit, when fairly 

 established in suitable soil, it has made such rapid advances as to 

 be unsurpassed by any other conifer, while the quality of its timber 

 has been found to be superior to that of either spruce or Scots fir in 

 these situations, and one is thus led to the conclusion that the value 

 of the wood of the silver fir, when it has attained to over forty years 

 of age, is not so generally appreciated as it deserves to be, if it were 

 better known. Mr. M'Corquodale, of the Scone Woods, whose 

 opinion on any subject connected with practical forestry^ is most 

 valuable and reliable, recently told the writer that he was surprised 

 that silver firs were not much more frequently and extensively 

 planted in Scotland than they are, when there are to be found sites 

 and altitudes, and soils so well adapted for the growth and develop- 



