294 INVEBNESS NUBSEBIES. [Feb., 



apply only to Scotch Fir and Larch, other coniferous trees which 

 are not planted nearly so extensively may be numbered by the 

 hundred thousand — such as Spruce, Silver Fir, Austrian, Corsican, 

 and ^lountain Pines. 



The production of such numbers of trees entails a large amount 

 of labour, and employment is thus given to a considerable number 

 of people, and of a class many of which would be otherwise very 

 badlv off. At the present time the extracting of the seed from 

 Larch and Scotch Fir cones is being rapidly proceeded with, and 

 is an interesting process. The gathering of these also gives em- 

 ployment to man}', at a time of year when usually there is little 

 enough to do. The annual output of forest trees from these 

 nurseries may safely be estimated at close on 5,000,000. The 

 half of this number is to be planted out permanently. Generally 

 speaking, in hill-ground planting about .3,5 OU plants are put into 

 one acre. This represents, then, a total of about 700 acres planted 

 every year with trees grown by this firm. The bulk of the plants, 

 as may be expected, is dispersed in the northern and western 

 counties, but a goodly number find their way farther south, and 

 even into England and Ireland. The propagation and cultivation 

 of the rarer conifers are also gone into with great success. The 

 lover of trees wDl find in this department much of interest, 

 especially among the families Abies, Finns, and Picea. Their 

 varieties are almost endless, and every year adds to the number. 

 We note particularly among the Spruce tribe (Abies) the golden 

 and silver varieties of the common one {Abies excelsa), also a 

 weeping variety of great beauty, called Abies inverta. The 

 varieties inomstrosa and Cranstoni are very peculiar in their style 

 of growth. There are also several neat specimens of the dwarf 

 Spruces, plants whose size behe their years, some of them being 

 over ten years old, and, as yet, have only reached the height of 

 twelve inches. Then there are the White, the Black, and the rare 

 Blue Spruce {Abies parnjana}, with its beautifully-tinted leaves 

 and fine habit of growth ; and last, though by no means least, the 

 Douglas Spruce (Abies Douglasii), a variety which, by its quick 

 and elegant growth and general adaptability to soils, is rapidly 

 forcing its way into favour, not only for ornamental purposes, but 

 also as a forest tree. Its timber is said to be of very fair 

 quality. 



Among the Scotch Fir tribes (Piivas) are to be noted large 

 quantities of cernhra and stromas, also excelsa, Jeffreyi, ponderosa, 

 and the lovely grass-green insignis. A comparatively recent in- 

 troduction, called Bolanderi, has all the good points of insignia, 

 with the addition of greater hardiness than the other possesses. 



