THE SPRUCE, ETC. 285 



hundred feet from the observer have no resem- 

 blance to each other in point of color. I might de- 

 scribe the black spruce as having a blacker tone with 

 a misty effect. 



The cone of the red spruce is comparatively red- 

 der than that of the black spruce, and it is usually a 

 trifle larger ; as a rule, the edges of the scales are not 

 so jagged as those of the black spruce cone, and if 

 my drawings are compared it will be seen that the 

 last-mentioned cone has a decidedly square-pointed 

 scale.* Gray describes the black spruce cone as hav- 

 ing a thin denticulate edge. This is a marvelous!} 7 

 good point of distinction, for, if one will snap the 

 edge of a red spruce cone scale with the finger nail, 

 it will respond with a somewhat musical note ; on the 

 contrary, a black spruce specimen is either so thin 

 that it will not snap at all, or else it will produce a 

 note pitched so high that there is hardly any music 

 left in it. The same experiment with the papery 

 cone of the white spruce elicits a very low note with 

 hardly any musical quality. Of course, only old or 

 very well dried cones will serve for this test. 



Another point of distinction between the red and 

 black spruces is observable in the tiny bare twigs : in 

 the red these are tan-red, in the black they are con- 



* This is not invariably the rule; sometimes the scales are 

 rounder, but still jagged-edged. 



