CHAP. CXHI. CONl'FERJE. A^BIES. 2309 



rotten and decays, giving birth to myriads of insects, which seriously injure 

 the surrounding trees. It is therefore better to cut the trees down after 

 extracting the sap for 10 or 12 years, as before advised; because the wood 

 may then probably be used for packing-boxes, &c., and, at any rate, will be 

 good for fuel and charcoal. 



Soil, Situation, Propagation, and Culture. All agree that the spruce fir 

 requires a soil somewhat moist. Like all other firs, Sang observes, it will 

 grow and thrive in soils of very different qualities ; but it never attains large 

 dimensions in shallow soils and exposed places. On dry soils, it invariably 

 becomes stunted, produces a great number of cones at an early age, and soon 

 dies. The check given to large trees by transplanting also throws them 

 into bearing; by which means, even in the most suitable soils, the progress 

 of the tree in making wood is much impeded. Hence, in the case of the 

 spruce, as in all the other ^bietinae, the great advantage of transplanting the 

 tree when young. The spruce fir grows most luxuriantly in deep loams 

 and low situations ; or on acclivities with a north-east aspect, and a moist 

 sandy soil ; in which last situation, at Blair and other places in Scotland, 

 it is found to produce timber as strong and durable as that imported from 

 Norway. The mature cones may be gathered any time between November 

 and April : they should be chosen from healthy vigorous trees, and exposed 

 to the heat of the sun, placed in a warm room, or slightly dried on a kiln ; 

 after which, the seeds will drop out by merely shaking the cones, or gently 

 thrashing them. Fifteen gallons of cones will produce 2lb. of seeds with 

 their wings, or 1 Ib. 4oz. without them. After being collected, the seeds may 

 be kept three or four years, and will still preserve their vitality ; but it is 

 always safest to sow them immediately after taking them from the cones, or 

 in the course of the following March or April. The seeds of the spruce fir, 

 being nearly of the same size as those of the Scotch pine, may be treated in 

 the nursery in a similar manner (see p. 2 179.); but, as the plants, when they come 

 up, are more prolific in fibrous roots, and less so in shoots and leaves, they 

 may be kept in the nursery, by frequent transplanting, till they attain a much 

 larger size. The most convenient time for planting them where they are 

 finally to remain is after they have been two years in the seed-bed, and one 

 year transplanted ; and the operation should never be performed but in 

 mild weather, and when the air is somewhat moist. Where the seeds are to 

 be sown to grow up at once into a plantation, without transplanting, the same 

 quantity may be used as in the case of the Scotch pine (see p. 2178.). In 

 Germany, and in some parts of France, according to Baudrillart, the seeds 

 of the common spruce are sown along with those of oats, rye, or barley, 

 at the rate of from 2 quarts to 4 or 5 quarts per acre; and, after the 

 crop of corn is removed, the ground is enclosed, and left to become a 

 spruce fir wood. The same thing is practised with the Scotch pine, and 

 various other forest trees. The first year from the seed, young plants of the 

 spruce fir make very little progress, not producing more than eight or nine 

 leaves, and not rising higher than from 1 in. to 2 in. The second year, they 

 push from 2 in. to 4 in.; and the third year they put out lateral branches. 

 The fourth and fifth years, the plants begin to grow fast, showing whorls 

 of branches in the same manner as full-grown trees. The period of growth 

 for the annual shoots, from this year, and ever afterwards, is from two to 

 two and a half months; but the roots continue growing the whole summer. 

 The eighth year, the length of the leading shoot will be from 2 ft. to 3 ft. 

 Where the tree is grown principally for its branches, either as undergrowth 

 for hedges, or as strips for shelter or seclusion, the plants ought to be placed 

 5 ft. or 6 ft apart, and thinned out as soon as they touch each other ; but, 

 where they are planted in masses for the purpose of producing rods for 

 stakes, or poles for hops, fencing, or spars, they may be planted from 3 ft. 

 to 6 ft. apart every way, and not thinned till they are of such a length 

 as to be sufficient for some useful purpose. Full-grown plantations of 

 spruce firs should be thinned either by cutting out the smallest, where the 



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