254 



IIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



TABLE CXXXIV. 

 SPECIFICATION. 



These spars are usually bought for the navy at a price 

 each, but for the private trade they are not unfrequently 

 sold at per foot run. / 



Nothing is done to these trees after they are felled, 

 beyond removing the small branches, cutting off the top, 

 -and making the ends even, to prepare them for the 

 market. They are, therefore, brought to us with the bark 

 on, and are measured over all. It is well, however, to 

 take the bark off if they are not required for immediate 

 use, otherwise they will suffer injury from the attack of 

 a small worm which after a few months appears between 

 the bark and the alburnum. 



The Spruce Fir has a further intrinsic value in yielding 

 a resinous fluid which constitutes the foundation for the 

 manufacture of pitch. The Spruce Firs are all of very 

 slow growth, and not so durable as Pine. 



There are at least three kinds of Spruce in North 

 America, namely, the Hemlock (A dies Canadensis), which 

 has small, pointed, pendulous terminal cones, and thin, 

 flat leaves ; the Black or Double Spruce (Abies nigrd), 

 with dependant, egg-shaped cones, the scales being waved 

 and jagged at the edges ; and the White or Single Spruce 



