; >tlnnnl. 258 



///////> and /'. funturhi. . lli- lir>t i> the m.,.( -i-ai.Mc 



es of the genus, attaining in it* ohosea habitat m i. 



Of mountains, a height of 300 feet and a diameter of from ! 

 i: feet /'. imin/im/ lf i> much >maller, hardly .-,, nailing in di- 

 mensions its eastern representative, the white pun-, Imt el. 



mbling it in general habit and minor botanical rb 

 On tlir mountain.- it is le abundant than in the \all.-v of ( I., 

 Fork, but attains somewhat larger BlZfe Tin-, with tin- - 

 pine and white pine. con>t it ut- a wrll-defin. ra-- 



trri/iMl by livc'-K-avcd and blue-green foliage: fusiform, r. 

 ous. imbricated cones, han.irin.u "M the Wldl >-w large and 



lui:b branclies : and in the character of the wood. Three tir>, 

 (le.Ni^natin.ir by that name those bearing i-rect c.tno with p. : 

 nent ;t\e> and deciduous scales, are also common, rhk, Abies 

 i/ni/idin, A. Huliilia, and J. nmahilitt. Of these, the first is the 

 \\tMern balsam-lir, resembling our eastern bal.-am. but a more 

 ma.iiiiitieeiit t ree, at t aininjr an alt 1 1 ude of :><(> feet. The la>' 

 are remarkable for the magnitude cf their cones, which are six 

 inches in length and two and a half in diameter, the first deco- 

 rated with rellexed and timbriated hruets, the second purple in 

 color and dotted over with resin. Four >pm -. l> .u^la-V. M< n 



's, I'atton's, and the hemlock, are there. Of these, the tii>t 

 is the largest and the most abundant, attaining an altitude of 

 over 300 feet and a diameter of 10 feet : Men/.ies's spruce (Abies 

 SHclu-itnix) grows to ti height of 01 -t, and is ^-nerally ;i> 



>tnct as a church spire: the hemlock is compurat i\ el\ 

 the high lands, and is onlj seen at its best in the \alh-\- : 

 ton's spruce (Ahit-s I'ntltminuu) is a near relat i\e of the hem- 

 lock, having the same tVathcr\ foliage, but that which is d. 

 and richer. On the whole, it is in my judgment the handsomest 

 of all the conifers. On some of the Alpine meadows among the 

 MIOW mountains especially the Three Sistere are scattered in- 

 dividual trees or groups of two or three kinds of fir and >prmv, 

 which surpass in symmetry and graceful groa ^ human 



achievement in the way of landscape gardening. Where th 

 forest* are most dense, the trees are so thickly set that two great 

 trunks may generally be reached by the e\u n led arms. No un- 

 dergrowth occupies the ground, and the foliage of the firs is con- 

 tin. -.1 to the higher branches, which interlock to make a roof 





