13 ABIES. 



years extensively cultivated upon barren exposed land, both in England 

 and Scotland, and it has been found one of the most profitable of al 

 trees to the planter, provided the land be well drained ; bu t it wil. 

 notj succeed in swampy situations. It grows with great rap idity, is 

 subject to very few accidents, transplants with but little risk, and 

 produces timber of great excellence and value, not only for domestic 

 but for naval purposes. In mountainous districts in Scotland the 



The Larch (Alia Larix}. 



Duke of Athol has planted it in immense quantities ; and it appears, 

 from a report of that nobleman to the Horticultural Society, that in 

 situations 1500 to 1600 feet above the level of the sea, he has felled trees, 

 eighty years old, which have each yielded six loads of the finest timber. 



From the boiled inner bark, mixed with rye-flour and afterwards 

 buried fur a few hours in the snow, the hardy Siberian hunters 

 p.-. -]i are a sort of leaven, with which they supply the place of common 

 leaven when the latter is destroyed, as it frequently is, by the intense 

 cold to which hunters are exposed in the pursuit of game. 



The bark of the Larch is nearly as valuable to the tanner as oak-bark ; 

 it also produces the substance called Venice turpentine, which flows in 

 abundance when the lower part of the trunk of old trees is wounded. 

 A sort of manna, called Briancon Manna, is exuded from its leaves 

 in the form of a white flocculent substance, which finally becomes 

 concreted into small lumps. 



It is believed that this species was the irirvs of the ancient Greeks. 

 The origin of the more modern word larix is uncertain. 



Allies microtnriin, the Red Larch Fir (Pinui microcarpa, Lam- 

 bert). Leaves clustered, deciduous. Cones oblong, small ; theirscales 

 erect, close-pressed, the upper ones much smaller than the lower. 

 This is a graceful tree, with much of the habit of the common Larch, 

 from which its very small cones, of a bright purple in the summer, 

 readily distinguish it. It is a native of North America. This tree is 

 by no means so well adapted to the planter's purposes as the common 

 Larch, growing very much smaller. The wood is so heavy that it will 

 scarcely swim in water. 



Abia pendula, the Black Larch Fir (Pinut pendula, Lambert). 

 .i clustered, deciduous. Cones oblong, with numerous spreading 

 scales, which gradually diminish from the base to the apex of the cones. 

 Branches weak and drooping. It is a native of North America, where 

 it is found growing in a rich clay soil, mixed with sand, in cold 

 mountainous districts. When cultivated in this country it is an 

 elegant tree, having a good deal of resemblance to the common Larch, 

 but being i)f a brighter green colour, and much more graceful. The 

 leading shoot will often begin to droop at the height of 15 or 20 

 feet from the ground, and, after gradually acquiring a horizontal 

 direction, will bend towards the earth so as to form a natural arch 

 of great beauty. The wood is less valuable than that of the common 

 Larch. 



Seer. IV. CEDARS. 

 Leave* growing in clusters; evergreen.. 



Abirs Cedrtu, the Cedar of Lebanon Fir (Pimm Ctdnu, Linntmis 

 and Lambert). Leaves clustered, evergreen. Cones oblong, very 

 obtuse, erect, with broad closely-packed scales, which are a little 



ABIES. 14 



thickened at the margin. Mount Lebanon and the range of Taurus 

 are the native spots of this most stately and magnificent tree, which 

 compensates for its want of height by its huge wide-spreading arms, 

 each of which is almost a tree in itself. According to Labillardiere, 

 a French traveller in Syria, the largest of those now remaining on 

 Lebanon is at least nine feet in diameter. The trees are held in 

 great veneration, and a holiday is set apart for the Feast of Cedars. 

 Its growth is far from being so slow as- some imagine; on the con- 

 trary, the observations of those who have cultivated it with care prove 

 that it will vie in rapidity of growth with almost any forest tree. 

 Cedar-wood has the reputation of being indestructible ; instances 

 have been named of its having been taken from buildings uninjured 

 after a lapse of two thousand years. But it appears highly probable, 

 from some interesting observations made at Tangier by Mr. Drummond 



The Cedar of Lebanon (Allies Ccilnts}. 



Hay, that the indestructible cedar-wood was the beautiful, hard, deep- 

 brown timber of Thuja articulata, the Sandarac Tree. The wood of 

 Abies cedrus produces deal of very indifferent quality. 



Abies Ikodara, the Sacred Indian Fir (Ptnus Deodara, Lambert). 

 Leaves evergreen, in clusters, acute, triangular, stiff. Cones 

 growing in pairs, stalked, oval, obtuse, erect; the scales closely 

 packed, very broad, and nearly even at the margin. It is a native of 

 bhe mountains of Hindustan, near the town of Rohilcund, on the 

 mountains of Nepaul and Tibet, at a height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet, 

 and also in the woods of Almora. It is a large tree, with a trunk 

 ibout four feet in diameter, resembling the Cedar of Lebanon, from 

 which it differs in having its cones upon stalks, and its leaves longer 

 and more distinctly three-sided, and also in the quality of its timber. 

 The Hindoos are said to call it the Devadara, or God Tree, and hold 

 t in a sort of veneration. Its wood is extremely durable, and so 

 resinous that laths made of it are used for candles. Spars of it have 

 :>een taken out of Indian temples, known to have been erected from 

 200 to 400 years, uninjured except in those parts which originally 

 were sap-wood. This tree has been extensively cultivated in England, 

 and seems to be realising the favourable anticipations which were 

 'ormed on its first introduction. 



To the species now enumerated, the following almost unknown kinds 

 lave to be added : 



Abies Kecmpferi (Pinus Kampferi, Lambert). A native of Japan, 

 bund wild upon the mountains of Fako. 



Abies Thunbergii (Pinus Thunbergii, Lambert). A scarce plant 

 n Japan. 



Abies Momi (Siebold). Found in Japan, as well as the two following, 

 [ts wood is in great estimation for its whiteness and fine grain. 



Abies Tora.no (Siebold). 



Abies Araragi (Siebold). Wood brown; used for various domestic 

 >urposes. 



Cultivation. 



The genus of resinous plants called Abies, which we have thus 

 lescribed, comprehend many forest trees of great importance ; and 

 t will be, therefore, proper to add a few remarks on their cultivation. 

 Some of them, such as the Larch, the Norway Spruce, the Silver Fir, 

 and the Balm of Gilead, are raised in the nurseries annually in the 



