THE FORESTS OF ACADIE. 37 



of its branches, and the general exact conical formation 

 of the whole tree. An irregularity in the growth of the 

 foliage, similar to that occurring in the black spruce, is 

 frequently to be found in the fir. A contorted branch, 

 generally half-way up the stem, terminates in a multi- 

 tude of interlaced sprays which are, every summer, 

 clothed with very delicate, flaccid, light- green leaves, 

 forming a beehive shape like that of the spruce. It may 

 be noticed, however, that whilst this bunch foliage is 

 perennial in the case of the latter tree, that of the fir is 

 annually deciduous. Up to a certain age the silver fir in 

 the forest is a graceful shrub. Its flat delicate sprays 

 form the best bedding for the woodman's couch ; the 

 fragrance of its branches, when long cut or exposed to 

 the sun, is delicious, and their soft elasticity is most 

 grateful to the limbs of the wearied hunter on his return 

 to camp. The bark of the larger trees, peeling readily 

 in summer, is used in sheets to cover the lumberer's shanty, 

 which he now takes the opportunity to build in prospect 

 of the winter's campaign. 



The large, erect, sessile cones of the balsam fir are very 

 beautiful in the end of May, when they are of a light 

 sea-green colour, which, changing in June to pale laven- 

 der, in August assumes a dark slaty tint. They ripen in 

 the fall ; and the scale being easily detached, the seeds 

 are soon scattered by the autumnal gales, leaving the 

 axis bare and persistent on the branch for many years. 

 In June each strobile is surmounted with a large mass of 

 balsam exudation. 



A casual observer, on passing the edges of the forest, 

 cannot help remarking the brown appearance of the 

 spruce tops in some seasons when the cones are unusually 



