FIR TREE. 



no longer be cherished. Yet so much that is delightful is 

 associated with these red-letter days, that we are bound to 

 say with Miss Twamlay, — 



" The green and graceful Fern, how beautiful it is ! 

 There's not a leaf in all the land so wonderful I wis. 

 Have ye ever watched it budding, with each stem and leaf 



wrapped small, 

 Coiled up within each other like a round and hairy ball ? 

 Have ye watched that ball unfolding each closely nestling curl. 

 And its fair and feathery leaflets their spreading forms unfurl ? 

 Oh ! then most gracefully they wave in the forest, like a sea. 

 And dear as they are beautiful are those Fern leaves to me." 



FIR TREE.— Elevation. 



" Those lofty Firs, that over-top 

 Their ancient neighbour, the old steeple tower." — 



Wordsworth. 



The Firs are a hardy family of trees, growing in the coldest 

 regions and high situations, and attaining a height of from 

 twenty to one hundred feet. They also grow with consider- 

 able rapidity. The " Wellingtonia gigantea," so named by the 

 late Dr. Lindley, and designated by him " the monarch of the 

 Californian forest," is a magnificent cone-bearing tree. One 

 specimen was found on the Sierra Nevada, measuring 450 feet 

 from its head to its root ! This tree grows well in our 

 climate. Young trees may be purchased at small cost; its 

 ramification is pleasing ; its verdure of agreeable tint ; and 

 its growth quick. All the Fir tribe are more or less useful as 

 timber. Whether we consider it as thriving in lofty regions, 



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