THE SILVER FIR. 473 



half an inch to an inch long - , slightly turned up at the 

 points, which increases the effect of the silvery lines, and 

 are disposed in two rows along the branchlets, a dispo- 

 sition, however, that is more distinctly marked in young 

 than in old trees. 



The cones are cylindrical and large, being from six to 

 eight inches long, and stand erect upon the branches ; when 

 young they are green, but, as they advance towards matu- 

 rity, acquire a rich purplish colour, and when quite ripe 

 are of a deep brown ; they remain upwards of a year upon 

 the tree, as they first appear in May, when they blossom, 

 and do not ripen the seed till the October of the following 

 year. The scales are large, with a long dorsal bractea, 

 and fall from the axil or spindle of the cone in the spring 

 of the second year. The seeds are irregular and angular 

 in shape, with a large membranaceous wing, wider above 

 than below. 



The roots, though horizontally disposed and spreading 

 to a great distance around the tree, are not so superficial 

 as those of the Spruce, but run at a greater depth, and 

 are seldom exposed to view like the main roots of that 

 species. The seedling plant rises with five or six coty- 

 ledons, and its growth for the first six or eight years is 

 very slow. When three years old, it is not more than 

 as many inches in height, and at this age it makes its 

 first lateral bud or side branch, an additional one is added 

 for the next two or three years, or till the usual whorl 

 of four or five is perfected. At five years old plants are 

 seldom more than a foot high, but after this the leading 

 shoot begins to lengthen, which it continues to do annu- 

 ally, till the tree is about twenty years old, at which time 

 it often makes a shoot of three feet in length ; after this 

 period the growth is not quite so rapid, and diminishes 



