120 NATURAL HISTORY OF SCOTCH FIR. 



Of the first of these, the Riga pine, from a plautatiou at 

 Guiparaz, near Brest, of which there were in the school several 

 clumps, he says : " Their trunk is in general very vertical and 

 elongated, but the branches are perceptibly longer and stronger than 

 are those of the first and second mentioned Riga pines, described as 

 of elongated pyramidal outline. The crowns are, however, regular in 

 the greater part of them. The red coloured bark begins a little 

 higher than in the elongated pyramidal series. It is of a tint rather 

 more pale, but sufficiently decided to show that the pine certainly 

 belongs to the red pines of the north. It is, moreover, remarkable 

 for its great vigour, and it constitutes in its tout ensemble one of the 

 good samples of a variation from the elongated pyramidal type. The 

 leaf is longer and more glaucous than those of the specimens referred 

 to, and resembles somewhat those of the pine of Haguenau ; the cone 

 also is more elongated and narrower in the upper half." 



The Riga pine, furnished by M. Pennanech, is like the last, a pine 

 of Russian origin, raised by culture in Brittany, and resembles it in 

 most particulars. It differs from it chiefly, that amongst the trees 

 raised horizontal crowns are more numerous, and the bark is more 

 uniformly and more decidedly red in hue, and it approximates that 

 of the two first mentioned. 



During the first years of growth the lot of Riga pines had a 

 marked resemblance to the Scotch fir, obtained from Aberdeen, which 

 will be afterwards described. 



Amongst the variations seen in the lot, which are numerous, 

 more particularly in regai'd to the direction of the branches, one 

 meets here and there individuals which are perfect models of the 

 elongated pyramidal type. Altogether, the mass is very good, not- 

 withstanding the want of uniformity which has just been noticed. 



Of the Riga pine from Bergerae, he writes : " The sowings of 

 Russian pines, made by M. Pousson, de Hollande, on his estate near 

 Bergerae have been known long from the mention made of them 

 by M. Delamarre, in his work entitled, Traite Fratique de la Culticre 

 cles pins. His son has had the kindness to give me seeds gathered 

 from the trees thus raised, and it is of trees produced from these 

 that I write. These pines, planted in 1840, cannot yet be classed 

 with certainty. They are very vigorous, too vigorous even, and 

 belong probably to that variety of the Fins du JVord, which seed, 

 through excess of strength, and tend to approximate this race to that 

 of Haguenau. The proportion of regular specimens in that is at all 



