THE CONIFEROUS FORESTS 
tinguished for an element of softness. 
This is seen in the delicate texture and 
pure color of their foliage, the effect of 
which is heightened by being massed 
in the dense forest. We have already 
noticed the mild olive shade of the 
eastern white pine. When the wind 
blows through it, it seems as if the 
foliage were melting away. It would 
be difficult, also, to match the green 
color of the red fir, especially as it 
looks in winter; or the luxuriant bluish- 
gray of the western blue spruce. 
A further softening in the general 
effect of evergreen forests is produced 
by the manner in which the trees in- 
termingle in the dense mass, merging 
their sharp, individual outlines in the 
rounded contours and upper surfaces of 
the combined view. Near at hand, of 
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