EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 227 



suberb specimens of this species in various gardens of the 

 middle states, SO or 100 feet high. 



The Black, or Double Spruce, (^1. nigra,) sometimes also 

 called the Red Spruce, is very common in the north ; and, 

 according to Michaux, forms a third part of the forests of Ver- 

 mont, Maine, New-Hampshire, as well as New Brunswick 

 and Lower Canada. The leaves are quite short and stiff, 

 and clothe the young branches around the whole surface ; 

 and the whole tree, where it much abounds, has rather a 

 gloomy aspect. In the favourable humid black soils of those 

 countries, the Black Spruce grows 70 feet high, forming a 

 fine tall pyramid of verdure. But it is rarely found in 

 abundance farther south, except in swamps, where its growth 

 is much less strong and vigorous. Mingled with other ever- 

 greens, it adds to the variety, and the peculiar colouring of 

 its foliage gives value to the livelier tints of other species of 

 Pine and Fir. 



The White or Single Spruce, {A. alba,) is a smaller and 

 less common tree than the foregoing, though it is often found in 

 the same situations. The leaves are more thinly arranged 

 on the young shoots, and they are longer and project more 

 from the branches. The colour, however, is a distinguish- 

 ing characteristic between the two sorts ; for while in the 

 Black Spruce it is very dark, in this species it is of a light 

 bluish green tint. The cones are also much larger on the 

 White Spruce tree. 



The Hemlock Spruce, or, as it is more commonly called, 

 the Hemlock, [A. canadensis,) is one of the finest and most 

 distinct of this tribe of trees. It is most abundantly multi- 

 plied in the extreme northern portions of the Union ; and 

 abounds more or less, in scattered groups and thickets, 

 throughout all the middle states, while at the south it is con- 

 fined chiefly to the mountains. 



It prefers a soil, which, though slightly moist, is less hu- 

 mid than that where the Black Spruce succeeds best ; and it 



