THE SPRUCES. 155 
BLACK SPRUCE, 
The black spruce must have a cool, moist atmosphere in 
order to arrive at its full development, and thrives more 
luxuriantly in wilds congenial to its growth than under 
the most skilful culture. The cones are smaller and 
shorter than those of the white spruce, and are produced 
in great abundance; they are ripe at the end of autumn, 
and should be immediately gathered and stored away, as 
the cones open and the seeds escape. 
RED AND BLUE SPRUCES. 
The red and blue spruces are closely analogous to the 
white spruce, and differ only in the production of the 
cones—the blue spruce producing cones when only three 
or four feet high. 
NORWAY SPRUCE. 
The Norway spruce reaches to the height of from one 
hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty feet. It 
is a beautiful, straight tree, with a diameter of from two 
to five feet. Michaux claims that it is one hundred years 
attaining its full growth. It is indigenous to the north- 
ern parts of Europe and Asia, but south is found only 
among the mountains. It is found farther north in Ku- 
rope and Asia than any other timber tree excepting the 
birch. The resin is the Burgundy pitch of commerce. 
The bark is used for tannery purposes, and trees are im- 
ported into England while only eight or ten inches in 
diameter, where the lumber is used for fencing, roofs of 
buildings, and many other purposes. Its wood is very 
durable, more so than any of the spruce family excepting 
the larch. The wood of the Norway spruce varies ac- 
cording to the land upon which it is grown; it is usu- 
ally very light and elastic. The timber that possesses 
these qualities in the smallest degree is usually raised on 
light, poor, sandy soil. To most artistic eyes the Nor- 
way spruce is not a thing of beauty, on account of its 
