190 THE FIRS 



the attempt has been made for ornamental purposes only, 

 and where the tree has been entirely in the open. When 

 planted in the forest, with a suitable forest floor, it will 

 doubtless prove as vigorous as in a virgin forest, but there 

 is little to justify any effort at artificial cultivation, for, by 

 proper treatment, natural reproduction can be maintained 

 where desired. 



The wood is light, soft, coarse-grained, and weak. The 

 heartwood is pale brown and the sapwood nearly white. It 

 is used for general construction, box boards, and pulp. 



Abies balsamea. This is the common " Balsam " of the 

 Northern States, and is confined to the states bordering on 

 the Great Lakes, to West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, 

 Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. It spreads 

 over nearly all of Canada east of the Rocky Mountains, 

 except on the plains between Winnipeg and Calgary. It 

 closely resembles the Fraser Fir except that it prefers 

 moist bottom lands, and even swamps. The tree seldom 

 reaches a height of sixty feet or a diameter of thirty inches. 

 It is a slow grower at best, and especially so in swamps, 

 where it may not increase an inch in diameter in twenty- 

 five years. It may be recognized by its " blisters," which 

 contain a clear thin pitch, commercially known as " Canada 

 Balsam." These blisters are arranged horizontally around 

 the tree in irregular sections and just beneath the smooth 

 surface in the outer bark of young and middle-aged trees, 

 and on limbs of old ones, and when pricked or cut open 

 the limpid pitch flows out. The Indians called the tree 

 "Blisters." 



The wood is soft, light, weak, coarse-grained, and decays 

 quickly when exposed. It is used for box boards, coarse 

 lumber, and pulp. The heartwood is pale brown, the 

 sapwood lighter colored, and it is seriously alleged that it 

 is sometimes mingled with Spruce and sold as such. 



Like the other Eastern species, it is short-lived when 

 planted in the open. When planted as an ornamental tree, 

 it frequently fails when thirty to forty years of age, yet it 



