MAY. 239 



pines : their lateral branches are smaller, shorter, and more 

 numerous, and they run up to a greater height in proportion 

 to their breadth, forming more nearly a perfect spire. Of this 

 division of the coniferous trees, there are but four species in 

 this part of the country, of which the most remarkable is the 



I. Hemlock Spruce. 



The Hemlock (Abies Canadensis) \s confessedly the most 

 beautiful of the coniferous trees ; and probably it is only the 

 want of success usually attending the transplantation of it 

 from the woods, that has prevented the general adoption of 

 it as an ornamental tree. It has an uneven perpendicular 

 trunk, and smooth branches with very slender terminations, 

 in which it differs greatly from other species of the same 

 genus. To these slender and flexible terminations may be 

 attributed, in a measure, the superior gracefulness of this tree, 

 compared with the other spruces and lirs. The same differ- 

 ence has already been remarked as existing between the white 

 pine and its kindred species. This circumstance, in connec- 

 tion with the density of these terminal branches, and their 

 single rows of soft and delicate foliage, ^nelds that wavy, 

 graceful character to the tree, which is one of its principal 

 beauties. 



The leaves, of a light green on their upper surface, and of 

 a dotted silvery lustre beneath, are arranged in single rows on 

 each side of the branches. The slender footstalks ,of the 

 leaves, though extremely short, give them a slight mobility, 

 which is peculiar to this species. Hence, when the tree is 

 shaken by the wind, the leaves, though not tremulous, are 

 put into a sort of wavy motion, like a net work of spangles : 

 but this motion proceeds chiefly from the minute branchlets 

 that bear the foliage. This individual motion of the leaves 

 is made apparent by the silvery glitter of their under surfaces, 

 contrasting with the pure green of their upper surface, and is 

 one of the interesting appearances connected with this tree. 



In the deep forest the beauty of the hemlock is not appa- 

 rent. There it sends up a shaft, often to the height of sixty 

 and sometimes eighty feet, without any diminution of its di- 



