158 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



1- 



PICKA PECTINATA, OR SILVER FIR. 



lines running lengthwise on eacli side of the midrib. 

 As the leaves are partially turned up, these silvery 

 lines make a conspicuous appeai-ance in the general 

 aspect of the tree ; whence its name. 



The rate of growth of the tree is slow when 

 young, but rapid after it has attained the age of 

 10 or 12 years. It attains its full height in from 

 100 to 120 years. There is a specimen of this tree 

 growing in the grounds of the Messrs. Jonxsox, of 

 Germantown, Pa., wliich is ninety-six feet high, and 

 of which a writer in the Horticulturist says, " it 



would probably be not too much to assert that it Is 

 the most beautiful tree of the kind in the United 

 States." It has been planted about 50 years. 



In the Northern States, the Silver Fir, when 

 young, is apt to lose it leader in severe wintera. 

 This is the case even in England, and it is not 

 uncommon to see old Silver Firs with forked trunks 

 and branchy heads. In somewhat sheltered situa- 

 tions, however, there is little danger from the cold, 

 and the tree is worthy of more attention than it 

 has yet received. 



