THE FIRS 253 



The Balsam Fir 



Abies balsamea. Mill. 



The balsam fir is probably best known as the typical 

 Christmas tree of the Northeastern states and the source 

 of Canada balsam, used in laboratories and in medicine. 

 Fresh leaves stuff the balsam pillows of summer visitors 

 to the North Woods. In the lumber trade and in horti- 

 culture this fir tree cuts a sorry figure, for its wood is 

 weak, coarse, and not durable, and in cultivation it is short- 

 lived, and early loses its lower limbs. 



Throughout New England, northward to Labrador, 

 and southward along the mountains to southwestern Vir- 

 ginia, this tree may be known at a glance by its two- 

 ranked, pale-lined leaves, lustrous and dark green above, 

 one half to one and one half inches long, sometimes 

 notched on twigs near the top of the tree. Rich dark 

 piu-ple cones, two to four inches long, with thin plain- 

 margined, broad scales, stand erect, glistening with drops 

 of balsam, on branches near the top of the tree. The 

 same balsam exudes from bruises in the smooth bark. 

 By piercing the white blisters and systematically wound- 

 ing branch and trunk, the limpid balsam is made to flow 

 freely, and is collected as a commercial enterprise in some 

 parts of Canada. "Oil of fir" also is obtained from the 

 bark. 



The Balsam Fir 



A. Fraseriy Poir. 



This balsam fir, much more luxuriant in foliage, and 

 worthier of cultivation as an ornamental tree, is native to 



