Weighted with loads of snow or tossed by boisterous winds, the spruce, 

 as seen in Alpine landscapes, is attractive to artists. "It is," says Sir Thomas 

 Lauder, "the great tree of the Alps, and is so mentally associated with the 

 grandeur of Swiss scenery that the sight of it never fails to touch chords in our 

 bosom which awaken the most pleasing recollections. What can be more 

 truly sublime than to behold, opposed to the intensely blue ether, the glazed 

 white summits of Mount Blanc, or the Jungfrau, rising above the interminable 

 forests of spruces which clothe the bases of the mountains?" 



The spruce tree serves for more than beauty since it is from its wood that 

 the frontal part of the violins of Brescian and Cremonese fame were con- 

 structed. It was from the wood of the spruce, in preference to all other woods, 

 that the violins of Antonius Stradivarius were made, and which now fetch 

 such fabulous prices. Choice specimens of spruce wood were selected by the 

 old fiddle designers, and we can readily picture them exploring the mountain- 

 sides to find the trees which would best furnish them with the resonant wood 

 they needed for 



"That small, sweet thing 

 Devised in love and fashioned cunningly 

 Of wood and strings." 



NORWAY SPRUCE 



Norway spruce (Picea excelsa) is a native of northern Europe, where it 

 was the original Christmas tree. It has a graceful, flowing outline of light 

 green foliage. The growth is rapid and the branches compact which well 

 adapts it for windbreaks or shelters. Like many of the spruces and firs, it is 

 apt to lose its beauty when it reaches an age of fifty years. or more, and become 

 thin and ragged in the top. Several varieties of this tree have been developed 

 by nurserymen, one of the most picturesque being a weeping variety with 

 irregular drooping branches. 



COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE 



The Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens ) has a striking appearance due 

 to the bluish tinge of its foliage. Koster, a nurseryman, developed a variety 

 with extremely silvery foliage by grafting on Norway spruce stock. This 

 spruce is highly ornamental and is commonly used to add emphasis to a lawn. 

 Care should be taken, however, not to make this emphasis too bold. As a 



(40) 



