372 THE FIE. 



the value of its timber. The American tree is inferior to 

 it in height, in density of foliage, in longevity, and in the 

 durability of its wood. Both trees, however, display the 

 same general characters to observation, having a bluish- 

 green foliage, with a silvery under surface, closely ar- 

 ranged upon the branches, that curve gracefully upward 

 at the extremities. The secondary branches have the 

 same upward curvature, never hanging down in the formal 

 manner of the Norway spruce. There is an airiness in its 

 appearance that is quite charming, and to a certain extent 

 makes amends for its evident imperfections. When the 

 Balsam Fir is young, it is very neat and pretty ; but as 

 it advances in years it becomes bald, and displays but 

 little foliage except on the extremities of the branches. 

 This is a remarkable defect in many of this family of 

 trees. European writers complain of it in the silver fir. 

 It is observed in the hemlock, except in favorable situa- 

 tions, and in the black spruce, but in a less degree in the 

 white and Norway spruces. 



