338 The Douglas Fir: The Firs, Proper. 



has grown. It is shipped for masts and spars to Great Britain, 

 South America, Australia, India, China, and the Sandwich Islands. 



1371. This tree is very accommodating as to soil, but prefers that 

 which is deep and damp, with a stiff subsoil, provided that it is 

 well drained. It has been introduced into Scotland with much 

 success, and is there a favorite tree for planting, both for ornament 

 and for timber. It is found to withstand the drouth better than most 

 conifers, while it equals or surpasses most of them in growth. It 

 was first introduced into that country in 1826, and a tree planted 

 the next year is now 100 feet or more in height, and in 1873 had a 

 girth of 9 feet 7 inches at 3 feet from the ground. 



1372. It is found, from observation, that in the colony of Victo- 

 ria, this tree will not flourish in exposed situations or near the sea, 

 but it is admirably adapted to form large bodies of forests in Alpine 

 glens, and in the cooler climate of the mountain regions. 



1373. The specific name of this splendid tree was given by Pro- 

 fessor Lindley in honor of Dr. David Douglas, who was sent by the 

 Horticultural Society of London, in 1825, to study the flora and 

 collect seeds and specimens upon the Pacific Coast. He returned 

 .in 1827, and in a subsequent journey lost his life, by an accident, 

 in the Sandwich Islands, in July, 1834. 



THE FIRS. (Genus Abies.') 



1374. Of these there are about eighteen species, of which eight 

 are found in the United States two in the Atlantic States, and the 

 remainder among the Rocky Mountains and upon the Pacific Coast. 

 The firs have the bracts of the cones longer than the scales some- 

 times conspicuously long, and when ripe they fall to pieces. The 

 cones are erect. Th'e leaves are in two ranks on the twigs, and rel- 

 atively short and rigid. The details of inflorescence in this genus, 

 as they are found in the silver fir, will be seen upon a subsequent 

 page. 



1375. THE BALSAM FIR OF NORTH CAROLINA (Abies Fraserii), 

 much resembles the silver fir of Europe, but seldom grows more 

 than 40 feet high and 12 to 15 inches in diameter. It is found on 

 the western mountains over 4,000 feet above tide, sometimes form- 

 ing forests of itself, and giving name, from its dark foliage, to the 

 "Black Mountains." 



1376. THE BALSAM FIR (Abies balsamea). This is common in 



