COMMON, OR NORWAY SPRUCE FIR. 463 



excellent material for the spars and masts of smaller vessels, 

 as well as for scaffolding poles, ladders, &c, and for these 

 purposes it is largely imported from Norway, in the form 

 of entire trunks from thirty to sixty feet in length, but 

 frequently with a diameter of not more than from six 

 to eight inches at the root-end. Trees of larger scantling 

 are sawn up into planks and deals, which are used for 

 flooring and other interior joiner work. It is also much 

 used by carvers and gilders, being of a fine and equal 

 grain, and taking the tool in every direction, and, as it 

 is a wood that glues well, it forms the lining of furniture, 

 as well as that of musical instruments, &c. 



Pontey, in his " Profitable Planter," speaks of the 

 wood of the Spruce as being of good quality and durable, 

 even at a young and immature age ; from our own expe- 

 rience we find this to be the case, and that it is, even 

 without any preparation, more durable than the Scotch 

 Pine, at a similar age. Upon continental Europe, besides 

 its valuable timber, various other products are obtained 

 from it ; among these, the resinous matter it exudes when 

 wounded, and which, after undergoing a preparation by 

 boiling in water, is known by the name of Burgundy 

 pitch, is one of the chief, and is largely manufactured in 

 the Vosges. Its bark is also used for tanning, and in 

 Sweden and Norway the inner bark is made into light 

 baskets, and the long fibrous roots are converted into a 

 strong and durable kind of cordage, after being boiled 

 in a ley of alkali and salt. In Norway, Laing, in his 

 " Journal," informs us, that the deal floors of the houses 

 are strewed over with the green tops of the Spruce or 

 Juniper, at least once a week ; these give out, when trod- 

 den on, a refreshing odour, which tends to overcome the 

 close and unpleasant smell in rooms heated by stoves and 



