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THE SPRUCE. 



Flowering Plants," states that the cones contain from three hundred 

 to three hundred and fifty seeds. The mature cone is five or six 

 inches long by one to two inches in diameter, and tapers to a blunt 

 point. The illustration given below shows the embossed pattern 

 on the cone of a Scots Pine. This should be compared with the 

 smooth scales of the Spruce cone. 



THE SPRUCE (Picea excelsa). 



The Spruce is not a native of Britain. The earliest record of 

 it in this country belongs to the sixteenth century. It grows best 

 on high land when partly protected from wind. Summer drought 

 and winter snows injure the tree, and it is often uprooted by high 

 winds. Spruces grown together partly protect one another by the 

 interlacing of their roots. The young shoots are often destroyed by 

 squirrels, and the bark by rabbits. The Spruce gall, which resembles 

 a small cone, is the work of an aphis which deposits its eggs in the 

 buds, and the tree is subject to injury by many kinds of insects. 

 The timber — the red and white " deal " of commerce — is valuable for 

 nearly all purposes and imported chiefly from Norway. Young trees, 

 which have grown too rapidly from over-much exposure to the light, 

 produce soft timber. The straightness of the trunks and their freedom 

 from branches when grown closely together make them indispensable 

 for scaffold-poles, ladders, and masts. The wood is light and pliable, and 

 vies with that of the Silver Fir for durability. 



