THE DOUGLAS FIR 97 



PSEUDO-TSUGA DOUGLASII (DoUGLAS Fir) 



'Tis said he had a tuneful tongue. 



Such happy intonation, 

 Wherever he sat down and sung 



He left a small plantation. 



Tennyson, Old Am phi on. 



The Douglas Fir. — History of its introduction : 

 Discovered by Menzies in 1792, during Vancouver's 

 voyage round the world. Rediscovered by Douglas, 

 1827. Introduced 1828. Firmly established and 

 plentifully planted since 1 862 up to the present time. 



What accelerating influence towards the growth 

 of trees old Amphion possessed in the strains of music 

 he poured forth from his melodious pipe, many of 

 us doubtless would like to learn the secret of. We 

 know, and that is all, that some occult influence impels 

 the Douglas to grow with more celerity than any 

 other forest tree we plant in masses. No trees, 

 unless it be the European Larch, have been more 

 widely planted of late years than the now well-known 

 Douglas Fir. When asked, " Why is this so ? " we might 

 make reply as the Scotsman, and answer " For every 

 why." Its timber results are more than promising, 

 they are an accomplished fact. Its rapidity of growth 

 is phenomenal. The Royal Agricultural S.E. judges 

 of the plantation competition in 191 5 computed, 

 if I remember aright, by measurement, that some 

 of the Shropshire-grown Douglas (at Leaton Knolls, 

 the seat of Colonel Lloyd, M.V.O.) had made several 

 annual consecutive growths of no less than four feet. 



Again, it is without doubt ornamental, and though 

 not immune from the ravages of rabbits altogether, 

 is certainly more distasteful, with the exception of the 

 Corsican Pine, to them than other Conifers. 



The Oregon variety is the one we are advised to 

 plant, the Colorado the variety to avoid. A good 



