376 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 



in diameter, and 80 to 1 10 feet in length, are commonly- 

 brought with each cargo. 



The present price (1875) of these Oregon Pine spars 

 for masts, &c., varies from jQf los. to ;£\i los. per load 

 of 50 cubic feet, according to size. This is in excess of 

 that usually charged for the Yellow Pine of Canada, 

 but, looking to the superior manufacture of the Oregon 

 spars, the actual difference in cost is very small 

 indeed. 



For the square timber and planks, which are brought 

 as stowage goods with the spars, no quotations are 

 given, and, in a general way, they must always be 

 ruled by the market price for Canadian and Baltic square 

 Fir timber. 



The clean appearance and straightness of the Oregon 

 Fir timber are quite suflficient to recommend it for many 

 purposes in carpentry, and it certainly may be used 

 with advantage in both naval and civil architecture, in 

 lieu of the more well-known Firs. The specific gravity 

 of this wood, when seasoned, is about 605. 



OTHER NORTH AMERICAN FIRS. 



There are several kinds of Firs in North America, 

 namely, the Hemlock Spruce {Tsuga Canadensis), which 

 has small, pointed, pendulous terminal cones, and thin, 

 flat leaves, one of the commonest and most useful, 

 though coarse timbers; the Black or Double Spruce 

 {Picea nigra), with dependent, egg-shaped cones, the 

 scales being waved and jagged at the edges ; and 

 the White or Single Spruce [Picea alba), which has 

 longer cones, spindle-shaped, also dependent, with the 

 scales smooth and entire on the edge. 



