CONIFERJE. 2G9 



Churchill advocates the growth of the Scotch Hr in various soils and hituations, and 

 says : — 



*' That pine of mountain race, 

 The fir, the Scotch fir, never out of place." 



In Wordsworth's poems we often read of the fir : 



" Unheeded night has overcome the vales ; 

 On the dark earth the baffled vision fails ; 

 The latest lingerer of the forest train. 

 The lone black fir, forsakes the faded plain." 



And again :— 



'* And there I sit at evening, where the steep 

 Of Silver-how and Grasmere's placid lake 

 And one green island gleam between the stems 

 Of the dark firs — a visionary scene. 



While o'er my head, 

 At every impulse of the moving breeze. 

 The fir-grove murmurs Avith a sea-like sound, 

 Alone I tread this path." 



It is very probable that in ancient times the northern part of our island was nearly 

 covered with pine forests, many of which have become submerged, and only exist in 

 bogs and morasses, whence their remains are frequently dug up. The most curious 

 of these subterraneous forests is that at Hatfield Chase, in Yorkshire, which is supposed 

 to comprise 180,000 acres. It is supposed that the Romans, during the very early 

 times of their habitation of this island, destroyed this forest, partly by cutting down 

 the trees, and partly by burning them, and that these fallen trees dammed up the 

 rivers, which, forming a lake, gave origin to the large turf moors of that part of the 

 country. Mr. Whittaker, in his " History of Manchester," tells us that the fir is 

 perpetually found in the moss bogs in the neighbourhood of that city. In the Irish 

 morasses bog pine is very plentiful, and the wood is much valued. 



The young shoots of the Scotch fir, stripped of the leaves when they are just begin- 

 ning to appear, are said to make an agreeable salad, and they afford a fragrant essential 

 oil when distilled. An infusion of the buds has been recommended as an antiscorbutic, 

 as are the fresh cones boiled, which are a principal ingredient in spruce beer. Tlie 

 air impregnated mth the balmy exhalation of fir trees has been supposed wholesome 

 for delicate lungs. The fresh inner bark is much liked by children, on account of a 

 sweet milky juice, which is, in fact, a new layer of wood in an incipient state. In 

 some parts of the north of Europe this inner bark is made into a harsh, disagreeable 

 kind of bread, which is eaten in times of scarcity. The floor of the Temple at Jeru- 

 salem and the musical instruments of King David were made of fir, though it was not 

 so highly prized as its allies, the cypress and poplar wood. The Talmudists relate 

 that it was customary in Judea for each family to plant a cedar before the house at the 

 birth of a son, and a fir at the birth of a daughter. These trees were deemed .sacred, 

 and were not cut down till the children were grown up, and needed the timber for 

 their household furniture. At the time when Judea was subject to the Romans, after 

 the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the daughter of the Emperor Adrian happened 

 to be travelling through that country, when her chariot was injured, and her attendants 

 proceeded in an overbearing manner to cut down one of the sacred trees to be used m 

 repairing it. The inhabitants of the place rose and massacred the train of the prm- 



