COMMON, OR NORWAY SPRUCE FIR. 459 



tenacious soil being no less unsuitable, than a chalky stra- 

 tum, to its free and vigorous growth. Advancing north- 

 wards, and in soils suitable to its nature, the Spruce in- 

 creases in the vigour and beauty of its growth. In York- 

 shire, at Studley, Loudon mentions a Spruce which, at 

 the time his valuable work was published, measured one 

 hundred and thirty-two feet in height, and was supposed 

 to be the largest and loftiest in England ; the diameter 

 of its trunk near the ground was then between six and 

 seven feet, and it was regularly clothed with branches 

 from the base to the summit. At this time it is supposed 

 to be about one hundred years old, as it is said to have 

 been planted by Eugene Aram towards the middle of the 

 last century. Further to the north, and in Scotland, it 

 delights in the moister soils of upland districts, more parti- 

 cularly in those deep ravines and narrow valleys which 

 diversify the romantic scenery of the highlands. By the 

 late Duke of Athol, distinguished as the greatest planter 

 of his day, the Spruce was extensively cultivated and libe- 

 rally introduced, wherever the soil and situation seemed 

 favourable to its growth, as he considered it not only in 

 the light of a nurse-plant, or secondary, in mixed plan- 

 tations, but as a tree of national importance for the qua- 

 lities of its timber, as it was satisfactorily proved that 

 several of the older trees cut down upon his estate at 

 Blair, and used as spars and topmasts, were equal in qua- 

 lity to those imported from Norway and the ports of the 

 Baltic. 



When grown for timber, and intended for poles, masts, 

 spars, &c, it ought to be planted in thick masses, or in 

 company with other trees, and allowed to be drawn up, 

 or kept so close as to cause the gradual death of the lower 

 tiers of branches before they become too large, or acquire 



