r 



258 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



beautifully pendent, and greatly increase the beauty of an 

 old tree of this kind. 



The Norway Spruce is the great tree of the Alps ; and 

 as a park tree, to stand alone, we scarcely know a more 

 beautiful one. It then generally branches not quite down 

 to the ground ; and its fine, sweeping, feathery branches 

 hang down in the most graceful and pleasing manner. 

 There are some superb specimens of this species in various 

 gardens of the middle states, 80 or 100 feet high. 



The Black, or Double Spruce (A. nigra), sometimes also 

 called the Red Spruce, is very common in the north ; and, 

 according to Michaux, forms a third part of the forests of. 

 Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, as well as New Bruns- 

 wick and Lower Canada. The leaves are quite short and 

 stiff, and clothe the young branches around the whole 

 surface ; and the whole tree, where it much abounds, has 

 rather a gloomy aspect. In the favorable humid black soils 

 of those countries, the Black Spruce grows 70 feet high, 

 forming a fine tall pyramid of verdure. But it is rarely 

 found in abundance further south, except in swamps, where 

 its growth is much less strong and vigorous. Mingled 

 with other evergreens, it adds to the variety, and the 

 peculiar coloring of its foliage gives value to the livelier 

 tints of other species of Pine and Fir. 



The White or Single Spruce (A. alba) is a smaller and 

 less common tree than the foregoing, though it is often 

 found in the same situations. The leaves are more thinly 

 arranged on the young shoots, and they are longer and 

 project more from the branches. The color, however, is a 

 distinguishing characteristic between the two sorts ; for 

 while in the Black Spruce it is very dark, in this species it 



