Silver Fir. 
SILVER FIR—LARCH. 
From the Yellow and Long-leaved 
Pines we have our supply of turpen- 
tine; and from the Silver Fir is ob- 
tained a very useful resinous sub- 
stance, known as Balm of Gilead, 
or Canada Balsam. 
YZ The Larch and the Cypress, al- 
though cone-bearing trees, differ from 
the rest in being what are called 
“deciduous,” which means that they 
lose their foliage every year. 
In the summer season, the Larch is one of the 
most beautiful trees that graces the forests of the 
Larch. 
Northern and Eastern States. Its tall 
straight shaft, sometimes 100 feet high, 
and 8 feet in diameter at the base, with its 
minute foliage, which is densely arranged 
upon its long and slender branches, toge- 
ther with the perfect symmetry of outline 
which it often assumes, render it an at- 
tractive object. It is a comparatively rare 
tree, and is not known to exist much south 
of the latitude of Philadelphia, except 
where it has been planted as an ornament. 
In the warmer parts of the United States, the 
place of the Larch is supplied by the Cypress. In 
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, this 
tree grows in immense quantities in the low swampy 
grounds contiguous to the large rivers. These “ Cy- 
press Swamps,” as they are called, often occupy thou- 
