THE DOUGLAS FIR 99 



disc the Abies leaves behind, but instead an oval 

 scar on the top of a little projection. 



The resin canals are as the Abies, two in number 

 and marginally placed. The fibro-vascular bundle, 

 too, is single. Other points of comparison and 

 characteristics are given upon the opposite page, 

 but we might further mention that the Colorado 

 variety is generally known to foresters by its shape, 

 more trustworthy evidence than judgment by colour, 

 which is formed by ascending branches into a more 

 bushlike plant. One crux, it may be pointed out 

 here, that planters have to contend with in laying out 

 woods of Douglas Firs, and it is this : the low^er 

 branches of these trees are so obstinately robust that 

 they refuse to subject themselves to any of those self- 

 sacrificing ordinances of self-pruning that are so 

 essential to the well-being of their trunk system in 

 after days. The question then arises, in face of this 

 rather disheartening characteristic. What is the best 

 distance apart to plant ? If called in to prescribe we 

 should suggest a distance of five feet. 



The Oregon variety was first discovered, so history 

 reads, by Dr. Archibald Menzies in 179 1. He first 

 found it in Nootka Sound on the west coast of Van- 

 couver Island. It was introduced in 1827 by the 

 ill-fated traveller David Douglas, and the tree 

 having been tossed about by the call of men from 

 name to name — to wit. Red Spruce, Yellow Fir, Paget 

 Sound Pine — finally settled down and took unto 

 itself the enduring title of Douglas. David Douglas, 

 the nominator, met a tragic end in the Sandwich 

 Islands in 1833. His mutilated body was found in a 

 trap-pit contrived to catch wild cattle. He was 

 precipitated into a pit occupied by a still alive horned 

 inmate. The rest of the story shall be silence. 



The other variety generally alluded to as the 

 Colorado Douglas was first found by Dr. C. C. Parry 

 8 



