226 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



dure of the Balm of Gilead Fir is retained unchanged in all its 

 beauty through the severest winters, which causes it to con- 

 trast agreeably with the paler tints of the spruces. On the 

 trunk of trees of this species, are found small vesicles or blis- 

 ters, filled with a liquid resin, which is extracted and sold, 

 under the name of Balm of Gilead,* for its medicinal vir- 

 tues. 



The European Silver Fir, [A. j^icea,) strongly resembles, 

 when young, the Balsam Fir. But its leaves are longer and 

 coarser, and the cones are much larger, while it also attains 

 twice or three times the size of the latter. In the forests of 

 Germany, it sometimes rises over 100 feet; and it always 

 becomes a large tree in a favourable soil. It grows slowly 

 during the first 20 years, but afterwards it advances with 

 much more rapidity. It appears to thrive well in this coun- 

 try. 



The Norway Spruce Fir, {A. communis, ■\) is by far the 

 handsomest of that division of the Firs called the Spruces. 

 It generally rises with a perfectly straight trunk to the height 

 of from 80 to 150 feet. It is a native, as its name denotes, 

 of the colder parts of Europe, and consequently grows well 

 in the northern states. The branches hang down with a 

 fine graceful curve, or sweep ; and although the leaves are 

 much paler than those of the foregoing kinds, yet the thick 

 fringe-like tufts of foliage, which clothe the branches, give 

 the whole tree a rich, dark appearance. The large cones, too, 

 nearly six inches long, are beautifully pendant, and greatly 

 increase the beauty of an old tree of this kind. 



The Norway Spruce is the great tree of the Alps ; and as 

 a park tree, to stand alone, we scarcely know a more beau- 

 tiful one. It then generally branches out quite down to the 

 ground ; and its fine sweeping, feathery branches hang down 

 in the most graceful and pleasing manner. There are some 



* The true Balm of Gilead is an Asiatic herb, Jimyris gileadensis. 

 f Mies exelsa. 



