29 



in the making of pulp and paper. There are five 

 species of spruce in Canada. The leaves are short 

 and generally arranged all round the twigs, at any 

 rate they do not spread flat, like 

 the leaves of balsam fir and hem- 

 lock. The white spruce extends 

 from the Atlantic coast to the 

 Yukon but does not reach the 

 Pacific coast. The leaves are 

 sharp-pointed and have a peculiar 

 skunk-like odour when crushed. 

 The cones are from one and a half 

 to two inches long. The Engel- 

 mann spruce, very similar to the 

 white spruce, is found in Alberta, British Columbia, 

 and the Yukon. The black spruce grows from the 

 Atlantic to the Yukon and is characteristic of low, 

 wet places. The leaves are short and blunt-pointed, 

 the cone scales have a toothed margin and the end 

 twigs are slightly coated with a rusty-coloured hair. 

 Red spruce does not occur west of the eastern part of 

 Quebec. Sitka spruce, found only in British Col- 

 umbia, is the large spruce of the coast district. 

 The leaves are stiff, thick and sharp-pointed so that 

 they feel as if piercing the hand when a twig is 

 grasped tightly. 



THE FIRS 



There are five species of tree called fir in Canada, 

 but one of these, the Douglas fir of British Columbia, 

 is not a true fir. 



The other four species are designated balsam fir. 

 The leaves are flat and blunt-pointed, and are two- 

 ranked, that is, they spread out from opposite sides 



