io4 Demesnes j &c. 



like other Firs, luxuriates in loamy, porous, cool- 

 bottomed lands. 



Abies amabilis, the Lovely Silver Fir, called, I be- 

 lieve, A. lasiocarpa, A. Loiciana, is a hardy Fir, reach- 

 ing to two hundred and fifty feet in height, of which 

 a variety is called magnified or robusta. 



A. gmndis, the Grand Silver Fir, one of the noble 

 trees of which Douglas wrote, luxuriates in alluvial 

 valleys, and is quite hardy in many situations. 



Of A. nobilis, Douglas says he spent weeks in a 

 forest composed of it, and day by day ceased not to 

 admire it ; and it is said to be acknowledged by all 

 the Pine race as Picea's Queen. 



" Hail ! Nobilis, thy sceptre sway 



O'er Picea's silver train ; 

 Our homage, Beauty's due, we pay, 

 To thy all- verdant reign. 



" Hail ! Empress of the Firs and Pines ! 



Grand giants ! pigmies green ! 

 "What Pine, what Fir its vow declines 

 To crown thee Picea's Queen ?" 



A. Nordmanniana, Nordman's Silver Fir, is a lovely 

 tree, very hardy, and not particular about soil or 

 situation, cold or warm, high or low, and attains a 

 height of nearly one hundred feet. 



Perhaps I name as Abies some Firs which should 

 be called Pines or Picea, and to a learned ear I may 

 make many blunders ; but in this, as in subjects con- 



