532 ABIES PECTIN ATA. 



as for the many purposes in rural economy for which it is planted.*" 

 Among the most noteworthy of these is one at Lynedoch near Perth 

 over 104 feet high, 14 feet in girth at five feet from the ground, and 

 estimated to contain 417 cubic feet of timber, t In the grounds at 

 Dunkeld House in the same county is one of the finest groups of 

 Silver Firs in Great Britain ; this group consists of fifteen trees 

 ranging from 95 to 110 feet in height, and from 10 to 14 feet in girth 

 at five feet from the ground. J At Carton in Kildare, the seat of the 

 Duke of Leinster, are several lofty specimens which form a conspicuous 

 feature of the place, the largest of which is 112 feet high and 

 15 feet in girth at five feet from the ground ; and at Curraghmore, 

 near Waterford, the seat of the Marquis of Waterford, are several 

 superb specimens over 100 feet high. 



The timber of the common Silver Fir is inferior to that of the 

 Spruce Fir ; the wood is strong and elastic but the grain is 

 irregular ; it is soft and porous and soon decays on exposure ; it is, 

 however, recommended for roofing, partitions in the interior of houses, 

 posts for fencing ; also for troughs, cisterns, and for any purpose 

 connected with sluices and embankments, as it does not warp or 

 twist. In the mountain regions of Europe where the Silver Fir i& 

 abundant, its timber is used for carpentry of every description, and 

 it is also burnt into charcoal. In the forests of the Vosges, the 

 resinous secretions are collected in great quantity, from which is 

 prepared the Strasburg turpentine of commerce. 



Many varieties of the Silver Fir have from time to time been 

 brought under the notice of horticulturists, showing a greater or less 

 deviation in habit from the common type. They are mostly of French 

 and German origin, and have received the following names among others : 

 brevifoUa, columnaris, pendula, pyramidalis, stricta, tortuosa, tenuifolia, 

 varieyata names sufficiently indicative of the most obvious 

 characteristic of the varieties to which they have been applied. 

 Probably not one of them is to be found in British gardens except 

 perhaps pendula which occurs ^ wild on the Vosges and in east 

 Friesland. Of far greater interest than any of them is that described 

 by Boissier under the name of Equi Trojani which was discovered by 

 the Greek botanist Sintenis on the summit of Kas Dagh (Mount Ida) 

 in north-west Anatolia, not far from the site of the ancient Troy. 

 In its spine-tipped leaves it approaches Abies cephalonwa and in its 

 broader cones A. Nordmanniana ; it is thence an intermediate form 

 connecting these two Abies with each other and with the more widely 

 distributed A. pectinata, a significant fact showing how nugatory the 

 technical circumscriptions of species often prove. 



* It should be borne in mind that when the Silver Fir is felled, the stump, if left in 

 the ground, retains its vitality and even increases in size for many years afterwards ; il 

 thence advisable to remove it if the ground on which the tree stood, is required for otln 



t Dimensions communicated by Mr. Pitcaithley, Forester to the Earl of Mansfield. 

 J Communicated by Mr. David Keir, Forester to the Duke of Atholl. 

 " Instar montis equuni, divina Palladis arte 



^Edificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costa,s."^Eneid, II. 15. 

 (Assisted by the divine skill of Pallas, they build a horse to the size of a 

 mountain and interweave its rib's with planks of fir.) 



