Abies 723 



supposed to be A. pectinata, is more probably a form of A. Apollinis. In Italy the 

 common silver fir reaches its most southerly point on the Nebroden and Madonia 

 Mountains of Sicily at lat. 38 . From here the limit follows the Apennines up 

 through Italy, crosses into Corsica, and from there passes into Spain, where it 

 extends from Monseny, near the Mediterranean coast in lat. 41 25', parallel to the 

 Pyrenees, through the mountains of Catalonia and northern Aragon to Navarre. 

 In Spain the silver fir also occurs westwards on a few points of the northern littoral 

 in the Basque provinces and Asturias. 



Whhin the extensive territory just delimited, the silver fir is very irregularly 

 distributed, being totally absent in many parts, as on the plains and lower mountains 

 of southern Europe. In the eastern part of its area it occurs only as isolated trees 

 or in small groups in the beech and spruce forests ; whereas, in the western part, as 

 in France and in parts of Germany, it forms forests of great extent, either pure or in 

 which it is the dominant species. 



In France the largest forests of the silver fir are in the Vosges and in the Jura. 

 Important forests also occur in the eastern parts of the Pyrenees, the Cevennes, the 

 mountains of Auvergne, and the Alps of Dauphine. It is rare on the hills of 

 Burgundy, and does not occur in the Ardennes. There are small woods of this 

 species on some of the hills in Normandy, which are, however, supposed to be 

 planted and not indigenous. The great forest of the Vosges ' is about 50 miles long 

 by 5 to 10 miles in width, and contains about 200,000 acres, situated mainly between 

 1 100 and 3300 feet elevation. This forest consists chiefly of silver fir, though, in 

 some parts, there is a considerable mixture of beech, spruce, and common pine. 

 The most productive woods are on siliceous soil, and only contain 10 per cent of 

 beech and pine ; their mean annual production being about 100 cubic feet per acre, 

 the volume of timber standing on each acre averaging 4500 cubic feet. 



In the Jura there are even richer and more homogeneous forests than in the 

 Vosges, being according to Huffel the finest in Europe. Here the soil is limestone. 

 One of these forests, which covers Mount La Joux, between 2100 and 3000 feet 

 altitude, contains 10,600 acres, and consists of about 90 per cent silver fir and 10 per 

 cent of spruce. The annual yield per acre is 170 cubic feet of timber. The total 

 volume of standing timber, including only trees over 2 feet in girth, is 6000 cubic 

 feet per acre. The net revenue is thirty-two shillings an acre. There are several 

 other forests equally valuable in this region. 



One of the finest silver firs ' in France, a tree called " Le President," is growing 

 in the forest of La Joux. It is 163 feet high, with a clean stem of 93 feet, and a girth 

 of 15 feet; and contains 1600 cubic feet of timber. In the forest 2 of Gerardmer, 

 in the Vosges, there are two fine trees. One, the Beau Sapin, has a height of 

 144 feet and a girth of 13 feet 8 inches ; it contains 777 cubic feet of timber, and is 

 valued at ^16. The other, the Giant Sapin, has a height of 157 feet and a girth 

 of 14 feet 5 inches ; it contains 1095 cubic feet of timber, and is valued at 27. In 

 the Pyrenees the silver fir occurs between 4500 and 6500 feet elevation, and trees 



1 See Huffel, Economie Forestiire, i. 349, 350, 353 (1904). 

 2 Cf. Trans. R. Scot. Arb. Sec. xviii. 131 (1905). 



