Picea Pectinata (Silver Fir). 



This belongs to a genus containing about thirty species, all herma- 

 phrodite, and is one of the most graceful of all trees for lawn decora- 

 tions. The wood was esteemed at a very early age. Being soft in its 

 texture and sonite in sound, it was greatly preferred by the ancients 

 for musical instruments. David, the shepherd, musician, w^arrior, 

 and king, delighted to play before the Lord on all manner of instru- 

 ments made of firwood. Again, we have Solomon writing Hiram, 

 king of Tyre, asking for fir trees out of Lebanon, to assist him with 

 the temple building. The fir tree is frequently used figuratively in the 

 prophets : " Instead of the thorn sliall come up the fir tree." It is 

 only mentioned once in the Psalms : " As for the stork the fir tree is 

 her house." The Greeks dedicated it to the goddess of hunting, as 

 under the cool shade the huntsmen used to rest. Fir and pine boughs 

 were wreathed round the heads of the various champions at the Pans 

 Bacchanal, and Olympic games of early Greece. It is not known 

 for certain when this tree was first introduced, although it is believed 

 to have come from Switzerland in 1603. Csesar, in his " Commen- 

 taries," says he did not see a fir-tree during his stay in Britain. 

 Gerarde, who died in 1607, says, " I have seen this tree growing in 

 Cheshire, where they grew in great ' plentie,' as is reported before the 

 flood ; but being then overwhelmed have lain since in masses very 

 fresh and sound until this day. Being full of rosin they burn like 

 a torch or ' linkie,' and are called ' firre-wood ' by the inhabitants. 

 I have seen the goodliest tree in the world growing on the wild rocky 

 hills of Germany." The same writer remarked the fine firs of 

 Prussia, Ptoumania, Tiefleland, Eussia, and Norway. Pliny says 

 the fir-tree does not thrive well near Eome, but terms those in 

 France, Corsica, Bithynia, and Macedonia, as most graceful. The 

 silver fir dwells in high latitudes, occupying the same isothermal 

 zone with the pine, and is found in Europe as far north as Enontekies, 

 where the summer heat only averages 59|-°. The largest fir in 

 Britain is, or was, at Woburn, which measured seventy feet of a clear 

 trunk, and was altogether 110 feet high. — Jottings from Loin. Fitt's 

 Scrap-hooJc. 



