ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 141 



they possess a geographical interest; they are of great and diversified 

 value, for sundry economical purposes; they differ much in habit, hue, 

 and general appearance. When all other trees are despoiled of their 

 leaves, these, unscathed by the vicissitudes of the seasons, remain un- 

 changed. In deciding upon the site of a Pinetum, attention should 

 be given to the nature of the soil ; for though pines, in their native 

 places, grow sometimes in very poor soils, from the crevice of 

 the naked rock, on the barrenest hill side, or in the most sterile sands ; 

 here, where the natives of very different climates are assembled together 

 by human enterprise and ingenuity, to contend with conditions differing 

 much from those to which nature had originally submitted them, every 

 compensation that is possible should be made. Shelter is indis- 

 pensable, many of the species are delicate, variety of surface is desir- 

 able, some prefer a less sunny situation than others ; depth of soil is 

 essential, the last degree of vigour should be aimed at; a deep sandy 

 loam is to be preferred, for almost all the species should be carefully 

 guarded from stagnant moisture, arid on a cold subsoil few will thrive. 

 To describe in detail every coniferous tree, would be but to repeat what 

 has been already done in this work. We shall pass them in review rapidly, 

 glancing at those which are either new, neglected, or desirable to be added 

 to our vegetable wealth. 



Among the species most generally known, the silver fir and the 

 Norway spruce fir are conspicuous. They are both of considerable 

 beauty, pyramidal in form, of great size and bulk, and are sometimes 

 very stately, when standing singly. The silver fir, in England much 

 the largest tree, grows slower than the Norway spruce, during the first 

 twenty years of its age, but then, continuing its growth with accelerated 

 pace, passes it by rapidly. The balm of Gilead fir (Pinus balsamea), 

 nearly allied to the silver fir, perhaps handsomer in foliage, is not worth 

 planting. During the first years of its existence in England, it grows with 

 sufficient quickness, but soon relaxes, becomes diseased, and dies. We are 

 inclined to attribute its premature fate to the average summer temperature 

 in our climate being insufficient to ripen its rootlets sufficiently; for the 

 tree seems to die so soon as, in the natural progress of its growth, its roots 

 have penetrated some depth beneath the surface. The white spruce of 

 North America (Pinus alba) is sufficiently distinguished to merit a place 

 in the pleasure-ground ; it differs from the Norway spruce by the peculiar 

 blue hue of its foliage. Pinus nigra and rubra, spruce firs of much 

 humbler growth, are rather subjects for the Pinetum than for the park 

 generally. A most magnificent tree, resembling a silver fir upon a large 

 scale, (Pinus spectabilis,) has lately been introduced from the mountains 

 of the Himalaya. Nothing in the fir tribe can easily surpass in beauty 

 this fine tree, whose silvery bark, bright green leaves, white beneath, and 

 purple cones, studded with drops of transparent resin, render it an object 

 of high attraction. It grows to large size, and, in the south of England 

 at least, is hardy, though, owing to the earliness of its spring growth, it 

 will be liable to receive injury from frost. It is still exceedingly scarce 

 in the nurseries, where it has been increased by cuttings, a mode of 

 propagation ill adapted to produce a fine tree. Every exertion should be 

 made to procure its cones ; no matter of difficulty now that the British 

 dominion has extended over the remotest recesses of the Himalaya. 



We revert to the Norway spruce, so universally known, only to 

 mention the vast mischief done by squirrels in plantations of this va- 

 luable tree, and to caution all planters against allowing these animals 

 to multiply. In winter, when pressed by a deficiency of other food, 



