252 



Remarkable Trees of the Norxmy Spii/ce^ 



of the main stem which remains above the surface of the soil is 

 little more than 4 ft. high, before upright branches are produced ; 

 and it is 7 ft. in its greatest circumference. The stem is divided 

 into several limbs, which run from 30 ft. to 35 ft. in height. The 

 primary substems vary from 8 ft. to 25 ft. in height, and the 

 secondary from 4 ft. to 10 ft. I counted upwards of 30 stems 

 surrounding the mother tree ; and 30 ft. was the greatest diameter 

 of the space covered by stoloniferous branches ; though in one 

 place a secondary layer had reached as far as 1 8 ft. from the 

 main trunk. The other specimens, before alluded to, of this form 

 of tree were far inferior in size to the one now described and 

 Xepi-esented ; perhaps owing to the cattle browsing about, and 

 destroying the tops of the young offspring; whereas no cattle 

 could enter the Wilderness to injure the banyan spruce. 



Besides the trees mentioned, other anomalies, equally interest- 

 ing with the preceding, occur in two specimens also of Norway 

 spruce, which had been blown down a great many years ago ; 

 but how long I found it impossible to ascertain. The gardener, 

 Mr. Young, has been at the Whim fifteen years; and, during that 

 period, no difference, he says, has been observable on the hori- 

 zontal portions ; but he knows considerable alteration on the 

 upright stems, both as regards 



their circumference and height. 

 The first which he conducted me 

 to is called the Man-of- War Spruce. 

 {fig.Sd., to a scale of 1 in. to 12 ft.) 



It has four stems differing in height 



and distance from each other, as 



represented in the figure; the tallest 



being 34 ft. in height from the 



ground. At first sight, this tree 



seems to derive its principal nou- 

 rishment from the lower portion of 



the root, at the extremity of the 



stem : such, however, is not the 



case ; for, on digging beside the 



horizontal trunk, several strong 



roots were found to have proceeded 



from the under portion of the stem, 



and these roots spread out many 



feet, at a few inches under the 



surface. In the other specimen 



[Jig. 90., to a scale of 1 in. to 1 2 ft.), 



roots were seen protruding above 



ground, from the side of the horizontal stem; and, when ex- 

 amined by digging, the under surface was also found to have 



produced roots. In both examples, the original tops had de- 



