392 THE SPRUCE FIR. 



The usual form of the Spruce Fir is a perfectly erect 

 pyramidal tree, upwards of a hundred feet in height, with 

 a solid trunk, which at the base is from three to six feet 

 in diameter. In young trees the lateral branches are 

 arranged in regular whorls from the very root to within a 

 short distance of the summit, which is a solitary spear- 

 like shoot. They are at first horizontal, ascending towards 

 the extremities : but as the tree grows older, the lower 

 branches decay naturally, and are thrown off, and the 

 upper ones droop and form a graceful curve ; the spray also 

 droops on both sides of the leading branch, producing 

 a pleasant feathery appearance. The leaves are short 

 and rigid, scattered singly on all sides of the shoots. The 

 cones are about six inches long, and at the "base two 

 inches in diameter, tapering, and blunt at the extremity, 

 and, when ripe, hang downwards from the ends of the 

 branches. 



"In a picturesque point of view, the Spruce Fir is 

 generally esteemed a more beautiful and elegant tree than 

 the Scotch Fir ; and the reason, I suppose, is, because it 

 often feathers to the ground, and grows in a more exact 

 and regular shape. But this is a principal objection to it. 

 It often wants both form, and variety. We admire its float- 

 ing foliage, in which it sometimes exceeds all other trees ; 

 but it is rather disagreeable to see a repetition of these 

 feathery strata, beautiful as they are, reared tier above tier 

 in regular order, from the bottom of a tree to the top. Its 

 perpendicular stem, also, which has seldom any lineal 

 variety, makes the appearance of the tree still more formal. 

 It is not always, however, that the Spruce Fir grows with 

 so much regularity. Sometimes a lateral branch, here and 

 there taking the lead beyond the rest, breaks somewhat 

 through the order commonly observed, and forms a few 

 chasms, which have a good effect. When this is the case, 

 the Spruce Fir ranks among picturesque trees. Some- 

 times it has as good an effect, and in many circumstances a 

 better, when the contrast appears still stronger when the 



