402 THE SILVER FIR. 



or newly-cut log. On the Continent the forests of Silver 

 Fir, besides affording a large supply of naval timber for 

 masts, yards, &c., produce much of the wood used in 

 building ; and as it is found to endure a long time when 

 driven as piles under water, it is extensively used for that 

 purpose in Holland and other places." 1 



The resinous products of the Silver Fir are highly 

 valuable. The substance called Strasburg turpentine (from 

 a large forest of these trees near Strasburg) is collected 

 from small tumours or blisters under the cuticle of the 

 bark. The method of procuring this is thus described by 

 Loudon : " Every year, about the month of August, the 

 Italian peasants who live near the Alps make a journey 

 into the mountains to collect the turpentine. They carry 

 in their hands cornets of tin, terminating in a sharp point, 

 and a bottle of the same metal suspended to the girdle 

 round their waists. Thus accoutred, the peasants climb to 

 the summits of the loftiest Silver Firs, their shoes being 

 armed with cramping-irons, like spurs, which enter into 

 the bark of the trees and thus support the climber, who 

 also clings to the trunk of the tree with his knees and one 

 arm, while, with his other hand, he presses his cornet to 

 the little tumours which he finds in the bark, to extract 

 the turpentine within them. As soon as a cornet is filled 

 with the clear turpentine, it is emptied into the tin bottle 

 which is suspended from his waist ; and when this bottle 

 is full, its contents are strained into a large leathern bottle 

 of goatskin. The straining is to free the turpentine from 

 the leaves and bits of bark and moss which may have fallen 

 into it : and this is the only preparation that is given to this 

 kind of turpentine, which is kept in the goatskins for sale. 

 Besides the turpentine collected from the tumours or 

 blisters, an inferior kind is produced by slightly wound- 

 ing the bark of the tree. In rich soils the trees will yield 

 their sap twice a year, namely, in spring and August ; but 

 in general the tumours are formed only once a year, 



i Selby. 



