176 Trees with Simple Leaves. [ci 



Cones, about one half inch long; broad egg-shaped; 

 green or violet when young, becoming purple and 

 brownish as they ripen. Scales, thin, nearly ro^nd, 

 their edges entire. 



Found, from Pennsylvania, Northern Indiana, and North- 

 ern Illinois through the Northern States and far 

 northward. It grows usually .in low, swampy land, 

 where it often thickly covers large areas. 



A tree fifty to one hundred feet high (not evergreen), 

 with a straight trunk and slender, horizontal branches. 

 The wood is durable, hard, and very strong, and is largely 

 used in ship-building, for posts, railroad ties, etc. 



The Indians and Canadians were accustomed to use 

 the fibres of the Larch roots for sewing their bark canoes ; 

 and for tightening the seams, the gum of the Balsam Fir. 







" Give me of your roots, O Tamarak ! 

 Of your fibrous roots, O Larch-Tree ! 

 My canoe to bind together, 

 So to bind the ends together, 

 That the water may not enter, 

 That the river may not wet me ! 



" Give me of your balm, O Fir-Tree ! 

 Of your balsam and your resin, 

 So to close the seams together 

 That the water may not enter, 

 That the river may not wet me ! 



" And the Fir-Tree tall and sombre, 

 Sobbed through all its robes of darkness, 

 Answered wailing, answered weeping, 

 ' Take my balm, O Hiawatha ! ' " 



