161 A MANUAL OP THE CONiFEB.®. 



Europe, as far westward as the Pyrenees, and extending eastward to 

 the Transylvanian Alps and the Carpathians. Its northern limit is 

 about lat. 50°, beyond which, it is found only in cultivation. 



Introduced into England in the sixteenth century, the precise date 

 not known.* 



Many varieties of the common Silver Fir have been from time to 

 time brought under the notice of Horticulturists, some of them showing 

 very remarkable deviations from the usual type. They have been 

 named respectively, cohminaris, fastigiata, macroplvytta, nana, pendula, 

 pyramidalis, tortuosa, &c, names sufficiently indicative of the character 

 of the varieties to which they have been given. These varieties are 

 all, or nearly all of French or German origin; few of them are met 

 with in British Gardens, and these, but rarely. 



The Silver Fir forms an important element of the great forests 

 that cover the mountain sides of central and southern Europe, whence 

 it has spread under cultivation into all the neighbouring countries. 

 Its growth during the first few years from the seed is extremely slow, 

 only attaining the height of a few inches in four or five years, but 

 after it has become established, its progress is more rapid. About the 

 twentieth year, and during its full vigour for some years afterwards, the 

 leader will increase from 2 to 3 feet annually.! The height attained 

 by the tree in its maturity varies much according to soil and situation, 

 often reaching from 100 to 150 feet in alluvial valleys, with a 

 trunk of from 5 to 7 feet in diameter. In England the leader is 

 sometimes injured by spring frosts, and the branches bared of foliage 

 by piercing winds, so that when planted for ornamental purposes, it 

 should have a rather sheltered situation. 



The timber afforded by Abies pectinata is inferior to that of the 

 Spruce Fir ; the wood is elastic, but the grain of it irregular ; it is 

 soft and porous, shrinks considerably in drying, and soon decays on 

 exposure. In the mountain districts, where it is abundant, it is, how- 

 ever, much used for carpentry of all descriptions, and it is also burnt 

 into charcoal. In some parts of Switzerland the bark is used for 

 tanning. The most important commercial product of the Silver Fir is 

 Strasburg turpentine, so called from its being chiefly collected in the 

 forests of the Vosges, and formerly in the Hochwald, near Strasburg. 

 Substances called colophony and white pitch are also prepared from 

 the secretions of A. pectijiata. In England the Silver Fir is frequently 

 planted for purposes of utility, no less than for ornament. " No Fir 

 is more useful, either for mixed plantations, groups, beds, or specimen 

 park trees ; and for game preserves, thickets, or shelter clumps, few 



* It is described by Gerard, in his Historie of Plants, 1597, under the name of the Pitch 

 Tree. 



t Loudon, Arl. ct FruL, p. 2331. 



