The Firs 



tinued in the Northeastern States, despite the fact that the tree 

 is short Hved and early loses its lower limbs. There are other 

 firs that may be as easily obtained and grown, and these are 

 chosen by wise planters for their greater beauty and longer life. 



The White or Lovely Fir {A. amabilis, Forbes), of the 

 high mountain slopes of British Columbia, Washington and 

 Oregon, comes to its greatest estate in the Olympic range. Here 

 it dominates other fir trees, a giant 150 to 250 feet high, with a 

 trunk 4 to 6 feet through. The spiry pyramid is formed of limbs 

 that strike downward and outward in curves of remarkable grace 

 and symmetry. In open groves the trees are clothed to the ground. 

 In dense forests the trunks are bare except for a tufted crown. 

 The bark is thick and broken into irregular plates on very old 

 trees; on younger ones it is silvery grey and smooth. The wood 

 is light brown or white, weak, hard and close grained. It is occa- 

 sionally used in interior finish of houses. In cultivation the tree 

 forgets its wild beauty and becomes commonplace. It grows in 

 Europe, but not in our Atlantic States. Only in its natural range 

 is it truly the "lovely fir" of the mountains. 



The White Fir (A. grandis, Lindl.) earns its name by the 

 silvery linings of its leaves. It grows from Vancouver Island 

 south to middle California, and eastward into Idaho. It climbs 

 from the sea to elevations of 4,000 to 7,000 feet, mingled with other 

 conifers, but keeping along the borders of streams. This white 

 fir is grand indeed in the coast region, where it mounts upward 

 with slender trunk to the height of 200 to 300 feet. Its limbs 

 sweep outward in curves of the utmost grace, and the contrast of 

 dark green with silvery white in the foliage makes the tree cheerful 

 in the extreme. The flowers are yellow and the cones brilliant 

 green, the broad, entire scales quite concealing the bracts. * 



The wood of this fir is pale brown, soft, light and coarse, used 

 to a limited extent in interior house finishing, cooperage and 

 boxing and for woodenwares. The tree grows rapidly in European 

 parks. 



The Balsam Fir (A. Fraseri, Poir.) is a tree 40 to 60 feet 

 high which grows in forests at an altitude of 4,000 to 6,000 feet on 

 the Appalachian Mountains from southwestern Virginia into Ten- 

 nessee and North Carolina. It forms an open pyramid of rather 

 stiff limbs, ending in twigs crowded with dark, lustrous foliage. 

 The purple cones are ornamented by pale yellow-green bracts with 



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