THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



spring, and the seed is scattered. After I had felled the 

 balsam I spoke of, I was surprised to see near the top, great 

 numbers of upright pointed stalks, like thorns, about an inch 

 and a half long ; but found on examination that these were 

 the axes or centres of the cones, which had been stripped 

 of their scales in falling, by the shock ; for from the cones 

 that were still perfect, (it was in March,) the scales, which 

 were standing loosely out at right angles to the axis, came 

 off on the slightest touch ; and the snow for many feet 

 round the top of the fallen tree was thickly strewn with 

 those which had been shaken off. 



C. I have observed in all trees of this family, that the 

 cones are congregated at the extreme summit of the tree. 

 Have you mentioned all the resinous trees ? 



-F, No : there is one of majestic size, and of no little 

 importance, which I have omitted : the White Cedar, 

 which belongs, notwithstanding its general resemblance to 

 the pines, to a different genus. It is the Thuja Occidentalis 

 of botanists. The leaves are small, and curiously imbricated 

 or lapped over each other ; the branches slender, and usually 

 pendent; the bark fibrous and stringy: from the facility with 

 which it is split, but chiefly from its great durability, almost 

 incorruptibility, it is in great request for the rails that 

 compose those unsightly zigzag fences, so offensive to the 

 eye of one accustomed to the verdant and blooming hedge- 

 rows of England. Cedar rails may be exposed to every 

 vicissitude of weather for a man's lifetime, without manifest- 

 ing any symptom of decay, except the separation of the 

 bark. It chiefly grows in marshes, and so densely as to 

 render them almost impenetrable. A cedar swamp is a 

 valuable addition to a Canadian farm ; and with us they are 

 already getting scarce, and no providence seems to be ma- 

 nifested for the future. 



