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EVERGREEN TREES. ~159 
the well-known Balsam Fir—or Canada Balsam—is taken ; 
wood is of little value; grows naturally in a wet soil, 
and is of little beauty when cultivated, except when 
young. By the time the tree is ten years old, the lower 
branches die, and it becomes a tall, spindling, ill-looking 
tree. , 
Apres Frazert (Double Balsam).— Very similar to 
the last, but the leaves are more numerous and the cones 
smaller; not worth cultivating where there are so many 
that are better. 
Astes Canavensis (Hemlock Spruce).—This is the most 
beautiful native evergreen we possess. It has a most 
graceful habit, with light, elegant, and delicate foliage, 
and branches which no one who admires an evergreen can 
fail to appreciate; leaves flat, dark green above and sil- 
very underneath, little less than an inch in length; cones 
small, about three quarters of an inch long. The timber 
is coarse-grained, well known. It. grows best on deep 
loams and stony soils; sometimes found in swamps, but 
seldom of large size. A light, dry soil is preferable, and 
a heavy clay the very last place it should be planted in, as 
on such it is quite tender, being often winter-killed even in 
this latitude, while it grows naturally hundreds of miles 
to the north. The tree attains a great height and size— 
often one hundred and twenty-five feet, and stem five to 
six feet in diameter. 
Astes nigra (Black Spruce, Double Spruce, Red 
Spruce).—Leaves three quarters of an inch long, deep 
green, thickly set on the branches; cones from an inch to 
an inch and a half long; tree an erect conical grower with 
