46 FAMILIAR TREES 



but in suitable situations the species multiplies freely by- 

 self-sown seeds. Darwin, in the " Origin of Species," 

 gives a striking case of this, illustrating the struggle 

 lor existence. Near Farnham, in Surrey, " there are 

 extensive heaths, with a few clumps of old Scotch Firs 

 on the distant hill-tops ; within the last ten years 

 large spaces have been enclosed and self-sown Firs are 

 now springing up in multitudes, so close together that 

 all cannot live. On looking closely between the stems 

 of the heath, I found a multitude of seedlings and little 

 trees which had been perpetually browsed down by the 

 cattle. In one square yard I counted thirty-two little 

 trees ; and one of them, with twenty-six rings of 

 growth, had during many years tried to raise its head 

 above the stems of the heath, and had failed." 



At first conical in general outline, its branches 

 rising slightly from the trunk, the Scots Fir with us 

 reaches full maturity in from seventy to a hundred 

 years, and is generally felled at a less age ; but in 

 Norway it is stated to grow much more slowly, and 

 to have reached an age of 400 years. When old, 

 the tree assumes a spreading flat-topped Cedar- or 

 mushroom-shaped outline ; and its boughs are often 

 twisted into gnarled forms. Though the tree is 

 generally associated in the minds of poets and 

 painters with mountain scenery, the finest Pines are 

 probably grown in more sheltered, lowland, but not 

 damp situations. 



Few probably realise how recent in date are 

 the extensive Pine plantations of our southern 

 counties ; while the taste for the regular but grace- 

 ful outlines of the Conifers as ornamental trees only 



