CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



attains a height of from 150 to 200 feet, with a 

 girth of stem of from 12 to 16 feet. 



Corsican Pine (Pinus Laricio). This tree yields 

 a whitish resinous timber, darker towards the pith ; 

 it is coarse-grained, but easily worked, elastic, and 

 durable, and is much used by the French in ship- 

 building. In this country, it is not only a valuable 

 timber-tree, but also a useful one for ornament, 

 for it grows rapidly, and soon assumes a handsome 

 pyramidal form. On a good light soil, it attains 

 a height of from 100 to 130 feet, reaching maturity 

 in the course of seventy or eighty years. It is a 

 native of the south and east of Europe, chiefly 

 occurring on high elevations ; on Mount Etna, 

 it grows between 4000 and 6000 feet above the 

 sea-level, attracting attention by its huge, far- 

 stretching roots, which creep over the rocks, and 

 are exposed above the surface wherever the soil is 

 shallow. 



The ' Black Austrian Pine ' is a variety of the 

 Corsican Pine, having a flat spreading head. It 

 appears to have even a greater adaptability for 

 different soils than the normal form of the species ; 

 and the wood, which is very resinous, is much 

 valued from its capability of resisting the effects 

 of water, and of alternate moisture and dryness, 

 which is even more trying for timber than con- 

 stant immersion in water. So highly is this tree 

 esteemed by many, that it is thought it may 

 ultimately supersede the Scots fir. 



Cluster Pine (Pinus Pinaster). This tree 

 affords a soft, and not very durable wood, which 

 is chiefly employed in making boxes, &c. and is 

 better known in France than with us. The cluster 

 pine, however, has strong claims upon our atten- 

 tion, for it is capable of producing timber on 

 soils unfit for other plants. It is a southern Euro- 

 pean species, growing along the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, and on the Apennines, to about 

 2800 feet above the sea-level. On wet soils it 

 will not grow ; but wherever the soil is dry, even 

 if exposed to the sea-breeze, it forms a handsome 

 pyramidal tree, fifty or sixty feet in height. In 

 France, it has been employed profitably to cover 

 immense tracts of sand along the shore ; and so 

 far as it has been tried in similar situations in 

 Britain, it has succeeded equally well. 



Spruce Firs constitute a well-known genus 

 (Abies) of the Coniferae, and include many valu- 

 able timber and ornamental species. Norway 

 Spruce (A. excelsd). This tree attains great 

 height, and furnishes white deal and spars ; it is 

 also very suitable for masts and poles of all 

 kinds. It is now widely planted throughout 

 Britain, particularly in the Lowlands of Scotland ; 

 and when enjoying a favourable situation, soon 

 grows to a useful size. It is a hardy tree, and 

 though its timber is softer and less durable than 

 the Scotch pine, yet, from the rapidity with which 

 it grows, and its adaptation to a soil rather damp, 

 it is frequently preferred. In many parts of 

 Northern Europe, it forms the principal timber, 

 being known in the market as white deal or 

 Christiania deal. When grown singly in a moist 

 soil, the Norway spruce becomes a handsome tree. 



The White Spruce (Abies alba) is a North 

 American species, whose root-fibres, macerated, 

 are used by the Canadian Indians as thread to 

 sew their birch-bark canoes. It is associated with 

 the Black Spruce (A. nigra), which is even a 

 hardier species, growing in the most inclement 



596 



regions. Its timber is very strong, light, and 

 elastic, and is valuable for the yards of ships r 

 and other purposes in which these qualities are 

 required. The young branches yield essence of 

 spruce, known to voyagers as an antiscorbutic. 



The Douglas Fir (Abies Douglasii) is one of 

 the most valuable and beautiful of the numerous 

 species introduced by that devoted explorer and 

 plant-collector. It grows rapidly, but forms a 

 fine-grained timber, elastic, strong, free from 

 knots, easily wrought, and capable of receiving 

 a high polish. It forms immense forests in 

 North-west America from 43 to 52 north lati- 

 tude; the erect tapering trunks varying from 

 100 to 1 80 feet in height, and many of them 

 nearly ten feet in girth. The tree is very orna- 

 mental, and well adapted to our climate. It is 

 now being largely planted as a forest tree, and is 

 gradually superseding the larch, not being liable 

 to disease. Menzies* Fir (A. Menziesti) also pro- 

 duces timber of excellent quality. 



The Silver Fir, called also the Pitch Fir (Picea 

 pectinatd), displays a greater depth of branches 

 than the other firs, and becomes a majestic tree 

 on arriving at full age. In this country, the silver 

 firs are chiefly seen as objects of ornament on 

 dressed ground. The quality of the silver-fir 

 timber of British growth is rather indifferent. 

 The Noble Silver Fir (A. nobilis). This is 

 another magnificent tree, introduced by Douglas. 

 It is thoroughly hardy, and of tolerably rapid 

 growth. 



The Larch. Of this valuable genus (Larix) 

 there are several species grown in Britain; the 

 more common being the L. Europcea, which 

 is one of the most beautiful of this class of 

 trees ; its straight elegant stem tapering to a 

 point, and furnished with pendulous branches 

 ornamented with delicate drooping spray. In 

 many parts of the country, it has gradually super- 

 seded the common fir, over which it possesses a 

 great superiority in point of ornamental effect; 

 but of late years, the ' dry-rot in larch ' (as it is 

 called) has served to discountenance its use for 

 many purposes. There are two varieties of the 

 larch generally cultivated in Britain the white 

 and the red. The white is the variety which 

 attains the greatest dimensions of timber, and is 

 the sort most generally cultivated. No timber- 

 tree at present cultivated in our woods begins to 

 repay the expense of culture so soon as the larch 

 does. It is a rapid-growing tree, and is well 

 adapted for almost every country purpose. It 

 generally sells at nearly double the price per 

 cubic foot that Scots fir brings ; and besides the 

 price of the wood, the bark is available for 

 tanning. The circumstances which are found 

 favourable to the healthy development of the larch 

 are as to soil it is not particular, but the roots 

 must have a constant supply of water, in order to 

 keep the earth in which they grow in a pure 

 state. On very arid soils, the larch never grows 

 freely, and soon dies off with a stunted lichen-clad 

 bole ; and on flat ground, where water is liable to 

 stagnate, though the young trees may succeed for 

 a few years, yet they are never found to prosper, 

 but die away as soon as the mere surface-turf is 

 exhausted. The larch, so plentiful on the Euro- 

 pean Alps, did not find its way into Britain until 

 the beginning of the sixteenth century, and was little 

 known or planted as a timber-tree for more than 



