DECEMBER 



113 



Hemlock : 



This is the most graceful of the evergreens, because of 

 its drooping, feathery boughs. Its leaves are flat, dark, 

 lustrous green above, white underneath, and arranged on 

 both sides of the branch, which, in consequence, has a 

 flat appearance. For this reason they make good brooms, 

 and have often been used for this purpose by New Eng- 

 land housewives. It attains its greatest beauty in the 

 spring, when it is covered with tassels of pale green 

 leaves. Its cones are small. Its bark, mixed with that 

 of the oak, is used for tanning. «^ 



Arbor Vit.e : 



This tree resembles the white 

 cedar. Its wood is aromatic, and 

 its leaves are different from the 

 evergreens above men- 

 tioned in that the}- are 

 flat and scale-like. 





Arbor Vitas, branch and cone. 



Balsam Fir : 



This tree is the 

 most commonly used 

 for Christmas. It can 

 easily be distinguished 

 from the spruce by the 

 blunt ends of its leaves, and by the fact that they are 

 arranged only on the two opposite sides of the branch, 

 making it flat instead of cylindrical, as is the case with 

 the spruce. It is very aromatic. From its leaves are 

 made balsam pillows. The tree has, until it grows old, 

 a smooth bark. It is regular in shape. It has a whorl 

 of five branches for each year's growth. Numerous large 



