62 THE CULTIVATED EVERGREENS 



It is very slow-growing and in fifteen years does not exceed 

 seventeen feet in height. 



Picea Schrenkiana, from Siberia and north China, is quite 

 promising and hardy in a young state. The habit is dense and 

 the leaves are deep green. There are no large individuals of 

 this spruce in cultivation in this country. 



The red spruce, Picea rubra, native from Canada, northern 

 New York to Pennsylvania and North Carolina, is a hand- 

 some tree in native conditions, and of great economic im- 

 portance. It does not thrive in cultivation and cannot be 

 recommended for ornamental conditions in parks and gardens. 



Firs. 



The firs are notable objects in parks and gardens, par- 

 ticularly in juvenile conditions. The large characteristic leaves, 

 thickly disposed on the generally horizontal branches, are very 

 attractive. They do not, perhaps, exhibit the graceful appear- 

 ance of spruces, but in the decoration of parks and gardens 

 they supply a most important ideal, from a different stand- 

 point. Firs require a moist good soil to be in vigorous health. 



The white fir, Abies concolor, is one of the best in cultivation 

 in northeastern America. The interior form from Colorado is 

 best adapted to planting. In twenty-six years it attains a 

 height of thirty-nine feet, with a distinctly pyramidal outline 

 and branched to the base. The large flat leaves, thickly dis- 

 posed on the branches, are very noticeable and give it a very 

 dignified appearance. Seedlings vary considerably and fre- 

 quently show a glaucous-bluish tinge in the leaves. The white 

 fir should be planted in moist good soil, preferably at the base 

 of a slope where abundance of moisture can be supplied, or in 

 a situation in which the soil is porous and moist and well 

 drained. 



