378 THE SPRUCE. 



top and two sides of the branch, those of the American 

 spruce cover its whole circumference, being almost cy- 

 lindrical. 



But the most remarkable difference is observed in the 

 disposition of the secondary branches. The Norway 

 spruce suspends them almost perpendicularly from its hori- 

 zontal boughs. Those of the American tree are tufted, 

 not pendulous, but merely drooping a little at their extrem- 

 ities. This gives the whole mass a more sturdy appear- 

 ance, and takes away some of that formality which is so 

 tiresome in the Norway spruce. For we should bear in 

 mind, that, although hanging foliage is supposed to be less 

 formal than the opposite, it is not invariably so. The 

 drooping foliage of the elm and the hemlock is graceful, 

 but that of the Norway spruce resembles an artificial 

 arrangement, and reminds me of garments hanging upon 

 a patent clothes-line. I think the tufted mode of growth 

 of the American spruces would be generally preferred to 

 the formal drooping foliage of the Norway spruce and 

 European larch. 



THE BLACK SPRUCE. 



The Black Spruce is a taller and larger tree in its na- 

 tive forest than the white spruce ; but the latter, when 

 planted in pleasure-grounds, makes a more beautiful 

 standard than the other, which is apt to grow scraggy 

 and defective, like the balsam fir. There is some diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing the two American species, until 

 they have been repeatedly examined and compared, though 

 they do not differ from each other so obviously as they both 

 differ from the Norway spruce. In the white spruce the 

 trunk tapers more rapidly, the bark of the recent branches 

 is lighter colored, the cones are smaller and more elongated, 

 the leaves have more of a glaucous hue, they are also 



