

!. .' '^^^"^ 17 



GENUS ABIES. 



full development. It is most attractive during late spring or 

 early summer, for then the young growths make a striking 

 contrast with the older foliage, the whole forming a regular 

 and compact cone of the finest colour. There is also a stately 

 and dignified air about this tree that one cannot help admir- 

 ing, and which is further enhanced by the regularly whorled 

 branches, as well as the brightly-tinted rigid leaves, which are 

 short, sharp, and thickly arranged all round and at right 

 angles to the stem, and numerous beautiful purplish-green, 

 ovate-cylindrical cones, which stand well out and are often 

 fully 5 inches long. The latter constitute a striking feature 

 of the tree. In so far as the economic value of the timber is 

 concerned, it might be pointed out that on comparison with 

 that of the silver fir, it is harder, closer grained, and better 

 suited for the finer constructive works. 



Under favourable conditions, the rate of growth annually of 

 A. Pinsapo for fully twenty years was about 14 inches, while 

 in one case, at least, I have known it to produce 30 feet of 

 timber in a like number of years. F'or planting on chalky 

 ground, this tree is certainly an acquisition, and at High Elms,^ 

 Sir John Lubbock's Kentish property, where are some of the 

 largest and healthiest trees of its kind in the country, I have 

 oft been struck by its rapid rate of growth, and that, too, 

 where only a small quantity of loam overlies the chalk. It 

 is perfectly hardy, and succeeds well when planted on ex- 

 posed ground. 



A. Pinsapo Hamondii, of which there is a fine speci- 

 men near Hemel Hempstead, in Herts, is a curious form, 

 giving one the idea of having been beheaded, and the branches, 

 in consequence, much lengthened and supple. It forms a 

 dense mass of foliage, of the same colour as the parent, but 

 the leaves are individually smaller. As a lawn bush when 

 planted on the green sward, it is both interesting and beautiful. 



A. Pinsapo varie^ata. From the yellowish-green 



* At High Elms several species of Abies and otlier coniferous trees have 

 attained to noble dimensions. Sir John Lubbock tells me that the choice of trees, 

 selection of sites and planting, were carried out under the supervision of Loudon. 



B 



