788 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



feet. (Plate 221.) A stump close by showed 360 rings on a diameter of 4 feet, the 

 first fifty being twice as wide as any of the later ones. I could find no seedlings 

 of the noble fir in this part of the forest, and my guide said that he had seen none 

 except at higher elevations. 



The wood of this tree, though not of equal value to that of Douglas fir, is 

 beginning to be more appreciated, and I saw it being cut up at the mill at Bridal 

 Veil where the owner, Mr. Bradley, told me it was worth twenty to twenty-five 

 dollars per 1000 feet, and was sent east to be used for the same purposes as white 

 pine. 



History 



This tree was discovered by David Douglas on the south side of the Columbia 

 river in September 1825, and introduced by him five years later on his second 

 journey. Ravenscroft,^ after quoting Douglas's account of the collection of the seeds, 

 which was published in the Companion to the Botanical Magazine, vol. ii. p. 130, 

 says that the seeds arrived in good condition, and were successfully grown and 

 distributed among the Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society for whom at that 

 time Douglas was working. " Extravagant prices were paid for the plants, fifteen and 

 twenty guineas being then no unusual price." As it usually does, the demand called 

 forth a supply, but for a long time this supply was in a great measure obtained by 

 making grafts and cuttings from the older plants. Plants grown from this source, 

 however, seldom have the same beauty as seedling trees. 



The next importation was a small package of seed sent by Mr. Peter Banks, 

 who was drowned soon after. After him Jeffrey sent a quantity to the Oregon 

 Association, but not a plant came up, as the seeds had been destroyed in 

 the cone by the larva of a hymenopterous insect, Megastigmus pint, and the same 

 thing happened to the greater part of the seeds sent by William Murray and 

 Beardsley. Afterwards Lobb and Bridges sent more consignments. 



Ravenscroft says that plants raised from home-grown seeds are not so strong 

 and healthy as those from imported seed, and have often died from a fungoid 

 attack. 



Cultivation 



Among the silver firs of North America none has had a greater success as an 

 ornamental tree than this, but it is only after many years of cultivation that we are 

 able to say with confidence, what are the conditions of soil under which it will preserve 

 its beauty. 



When first introduced it became so popular that seedlings could not be pro- 

 cured in sufficient quantity to supply the demand, and grafting was resorted to by 

 nurserymen ; the silver fir being usually the stock selected. These trees grew well for 

 a good many years, and some grafted trees are still thriving ; but the majority of 



1 In Lawson, Pinet. Brit. ii. 184. 



