51 



for various ornamental purposes. A shrubby species, T. Canadensis, 

 found in the Eastern provinces, never attains any proportions beyond 

 that of a bush. 



TUB RED CEDAR (Junipcrus Y'irginiana) is becoming very scarce in the 

 olde:rproviiices, but is found in an arboreal form with a diameter of one 

 foot in British Columbia. It is known as pencil wood. The wood is red, 

 aromatic, closo grained and durable. In Quebec and Ontario it is known 

 as Eed wood or Baton rougs, and a fine specimen of it was exhibited at 

 the Paris exhibition of 1867, cut on the Gatineau River. 



YELLOW CYPRESS (Chamcecyparis Nutkxncis) of British Columbia, confined 

 to the vicinity of the coast and adjacent islands is a large tree, its trunk 

 often exceeding 6 feet in diameter. It is comparatively unknown in com- 

 merce- The wood is strong, of a fine grain, rich golden yellow colour, 

 and very durable. 



THE WESTERN ARBOR VITCE (Thuya Gigantea) of British Columbia is a 

 medium sized tree with soft, light coloured, easily worked wood, used for 

 shingles. The fibres of the inner bark are used by the natives for making 

 robes, and from this tree are carved the large posts which ornament the 

 Indian villages of the Queen Charlotte Islands. 



THE WHITE CEDAR (Thuya Occidentalis) has a fibrous or stringy bark; 

 it grows in swamps or wet ground, and so densely as to render a " cedar 

 swamp " almost impenetrable. It is rare in Nova Scotia, where Professor 

 Macoun only found it sparingly, and very rare in Prince Edward Island, 

 in fact it is doubtful if it is indigenous there. It attains a considerable 

 size although not a very large diameter. Its wood is light,soft, fine grained 

 and easily wrought. It splits easily, and is largely used for shingles and 

 for fencing Its great value consists in its durability, almost incor- 

 ruptibility, for it may be exposed to every vicissitude of weather for years 

 without manifesting any symptom of decay. It is in great demand in 

 consequence of this property, for fencing and for railway ties. It enters 

 also largely into the manufacture of pails, tubs, and other domestic articles 

 where lightness is required. 



BALSAM FIR (Abies Bahamea) is one of the most elegant of the pine 

 family ; it grows very straight, its branches project at an angle and grow 

 to a length diminishing with great regularity as they approach the top 

 giving the tree the appearance of a slender but very regular cone. Its 

 foliage is dense, and of a greener tint than other firs ; its bark is covered 

 with bladders full of a fluid which hardens by long exposure : this is the 

 Canadian Balsam of the apothecary celebrated for medicinal and other 

 purposes. Its wood is light and slightly resinous, but does not make 

 good boards ; it is, however, valuable for staves of casks and pails, and the 

 trunk is used for masts and scaffold poles. In British Columbia there 

 occur the Balsam Spruce (Abies Subalpina) often exceeding two feet in 

 diameter, but its wood is worthless, and another fir (Abies grandis or 

 amabilis'), growing to a large size, with wood white and soft, but too brittle 

 for most purposes and liable to decay very rapidly. 



