xxx.] FIRS. 253 



reaches to a height of 80 to 130 feet, with a circum- 

 ference of 3 to 5 feet. It may also be found upon most 

 of the mountainous parts of the North of Europe, and 

 is abundant in North America. The Spruce Fir is an 

 evergreen, and assumes in open ground a beautiful 

 pyramidal form, with the lower branches drooping 

 nearly to the ground ; the leaves are solitary and very 

 short, and the cones long and pendulous, with the scales 

 thin at the edges. It will thus be easily distinguished 

 from the Pines, which have their leaves clustered in twos 

 or threes. 



The wood is white in colour, straight and even in the 

 grain, tough, light, elastic, and more difficult to work 

 than Pine, owing chiefly to the excessive hardness of the 

 small knots which are frequently found in it. When 

 cut into deals it is somewhat disposed to warp, unless 

 carefully weighted in the stacks or piles during the 

 process of seasoning. The shrinkage is inconsiderable, 

 and the sap, though generally only of moderate thick- 

 ness, varies from half-an-inch, in some trees, to 2 or 3 

 inches in others. 



The Spruce Firs are not suitable for the best-finished 

 carpenters' or joiners' work, but for framing and 

 the coarser descriptions of work it may be used with 

 advantage, and also in ships for any of the fitments in 

 store-rooms, for lockers, shelves, mess-tables, &c. 



The trees are generally straight, and being strong as 

 well as elastic, they are admirably suited for making the 

 small spars required for ships and boats. They are also 

 in great request for ladders and scaffold poles, and for 

 stage-making in ship-yards. 



Norway spars are known under the following desig- 

 nations, and are classified for the navy contracts according 

 to their size, thus : 



