126 Arboriadiural Notices, supplementary to 



with P. Mughus and P. pumilio, may judge for themselves. Capt.Cook alleges 

 that it is impossible to form a mature judgement on the disputed point, 

 without seeing full-grown trees in their native habitat ; and in this we also 

 differ from him : but we state what he alleges, in order that those who take 

 an interest in the subject may bear his opinion in mind, as well as ours, in 

 forming their own. (See Arb. Brit., p. 2210.) 



Capt. Cook says, " We do not adopt the fanciful term of Picea, and 

 divide the class, because of the difficulty of making a true demarcation," &c. 

 The readers of the Arboretum are aware that nothing can be more decided 

 than the difference between A^bies and Picea ; the former always having the 

 cones pendulous, and the latter always having them erect, differences that 

 may be known even by a general observer at a considerable distance. The 

 division, however, was not ours, but that of Professor Link, who, in dividing 

 the species, adopted the old Latin names used by the Romans for the trees, 

 calling the spruce fir Picea, and the silver fir J v bies. We have followed Link 

 in separating the spruce from the silver fir, and we feel perfectly confident that 

 every practical planter and gardener will thank us for so doing ; but we have 

 followed Linnaeus in applying the name of J v bies to the former, and Picea 

 to the latter. 



Speaking of the J v bies cephalonica, Capt. Cook considers it a variety of 

 the silver fir ; and he adds, " there can be no doubt that the same species 

 forms the capping found by the French savans, who have recently visited that 

 country, to cover the loftiest summits of Mount Taygetus, in the centre of 

 the Peloponnesus." (Ann. of Nat. Hist., ii. p. 172.) On turning to the work 

 of the French savans, alluded to by Captain Cook, viz. Expedition Scientifique 

 de Moree, fyc., Paris, 4to, 1832, we find that Pinus Picea forms a region, or 

 belt, around the summit of Mount Taygetus, up to the limits of perpetual 

 snow. The tree is fast disappearing there, but thick forests of it still remain 

 on the Malevos de Tzaconie. Mount Olenos, also, abounds in it ; and it is 

 there called the wild cedar. (Exped. Scien. de Moree, tome iii. partie 2de, 

 p. 274.) In this conjecture Capt. Cook may be right, as we have never 

 seen what we are certain are the cones of ^4 v bies cephalonica, though we 

 expect soon to do so, as will appear from a future paragraph in this article. 

 We are further convinced of the probability that Captain Cook's conjec- 

 ture is right, from having, since the preceding part of' this paragraph was 

 written, seen the original letter from Sir C. J. Napier to H. L. Long, Esq., 

 dated Argostoli, Oct. 2. 1825, which accompanied the seeds. In that letter 

 General Napier says : " The cones were picked up on the Black Mountain, at 

 about 5000 ft. above the level of the sea. They call them ~E\arr] (the 

 silver fir). The YIevkt] (the spruce fir), I am told is not found here." Mr. 

 Lons was not able to find this letter when he first gave us information on 

 the Subject, otherwise we should have placed the Cephalonian fir in the 

 division Picea Our reasons for placing it under the division ^ v bies will be 

 found in the Arboretum Britannicum, vol. iv. p. 2326. — Cond. Eeb. 6. 

 1839. 



Capt. Cook concludes his paper by a powerful exhortation to plant larch ; 

 P. Cembra, of which " the timber, perhaps, is superior to any other species ; " 

 P. uncinata; the spruce and silver firs, &c. On the whole, we have been much 

 gratified by the perusal of the article ; and we think Capt. Cook deserves well 

 of the public, for having kept alive the present attention, which is general 

 among planters, to the Jbietineae. 



Increase of Soil from the Falling of the Leaves of Pines and Firs. — These 

 leaves resist decomposition for a number of years, on account of the resinous 

 matter which they contain, and the wind taking no hold of them from their 

 needle-like shape. They generally lie where they fall, and thus accumulate to 

 a considerable thickness ; destroying all vegetation, except that of trees al- 

 ready established. In the Forest of Fontainebleau, M. Poiteau found that the 

 leaves which had dropped from a plantation of Pinus sylvestris, about 25 ft. 

 high, had formed a stratum between 6 in. and 8 in. in thickness ; and nineteen 



