X06 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Silver Fir. 



At the October meeting of the Society disparaging remarks 

 regarding the silver fir and its timber were made by several 

 speakers ; and as it may be interesting to them and to others 

 to note the estimation in which this tree is held by French 

 foresters, the following information on the subject has been 

 extracted from the late M. Boppe's Trait'e de Sylviculture and 

 his Cours de Technologic. 



The silver fir is, he says, exclusively a tree of the mountains. 

 It does not appear spontaneously at low altitudes (200 to 250 

 metres = 650 to 820 feet) except on slopes at the foot of 

 mountains, in the climate of which they participate. In the 

 Vosges it prospers up to an altitude of 1200 metres (3936 feet); 

 in the Jura, up to 1500 metres (4920 feet); on the Central 

 plateau, up to 1700 metres (5576 feet); in the Alps, up to 2000 

 metres (6560 feet) ; and in the Pyrenees, up to 2100 metres (6888 

 feet). It cannot be raised successfully above or below the zone 

 of its natural habitat as above indicated, being, in this respect,, 

 one of the least accommodating of forest trees. It is indifferent 

 to the nature of the mineral constituents of the soil, provided 

 that the soil be sufficiently light, deep, and moist.^ It is 

 essentially a shade-bearer, and excels all other species in its 

 power to shoot up, after long suppression under a dense canopy. 

 Although it stands severe winter frosts well, yet in youth it is 

 very sensitive to spring frosts. Unmixed with other species, it 

 forms good forests, but it is preferable to associate it with others, 

 especially with beech and spruce. 



Grown in France, under the above conditions, the silver fir 

 yields timber of the highest quality {premier ordre) for building 

 as well as for industrial uses. It is, indeed, one of the timbers 

 most in demand for building, its large size, high elasticity, and 

 other good qualities rendering it particularly suitable for rafters, 

 joists, planks, and battens. Enormous quantities of it are used 

 for these purposes, as well as for the masts of ships. But when 

 quickly grown at low altitudes, where the tree forms wide annual 

 rings, the timber loses all its good qualities ; it there becomes, 

 says M. Boppe, soft and spongy, and possesses but little 

 durability. 



^ Dr Schlich, however {Manual, vol. ii. p. 354), says that the tree requires 

 a "deep, fresh, and fertile soil, rather binding than loose." — I'". B. 



