14 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1 !> 9 



This is particularly true of the Cepha- 

 lonian fir (A. C e phalonica) , a fine species 

 that is not reliably hardy above southern 

 New York. The leaves are a fourth shorter 

 than in Nordmann's fir and the lustre one 

 or two degrees inferior, but the hundreds 

 of sharp needles on a foot-long twig combine 

 to give it a marked individuality. A 

 branch of the Cephalonian fir is harsh to 

 the touch, while Nordmann's is soft and 

 pleasant to handle. In England Mr. William 

 Robinson says that the Cephalonian fir 

 loses its leader at thirty feet, the side branches 

 growing vigorously and making a picturesque 

 tree. 



There is a variety of the Cephalonian fir 

 known as the Parnassus fir, which the 

 nurserymen call A. Apollinis. It differs 

 in having narrower and blunter leaves, 

 and according to Professor Sargent "is 

 remarkable in its power to produce vigorous 

 shoots from adventitious buds." Whether 

 this tends to spoil the symmetry of the 

 tree I cannot say, but the most beautiful 

 conifers are those that have a single 

 straight trunk. At Biltmore, the Parnassus 

 fir is said to be hardier than Cephalonica, 

 of slender habit, with shorter branches and 

 longer leaves. 



TWO PROMISING JAPANESE FIRS 



People who live in the Northeastern 

 United States should always look to the 

 Far East rather than to Europe for long- 

 lived trees of beauty, and there are many 

 who believe that the long-leaved Japan fir 

 (A. homolepis) will prove to be the best 

 dark fir for our climate — even better than 

 Nordmann's, because it is not browned 

 by spring frosts. Curiously enough this 

 goes in the trade by the name of A. brachy- 



Summer aspect of the Fuji fir (A. feitehil 

 land Park. Rochester 



phylla, which means "short-leaved." The 

 leaves before me are an inch long, the same 

 as Nordmann's. My specimen, however, 

 may be a poor one, for it is decidedly 

 duller — ■ less glossy — and it lacks the 

 luxuriance of Nordmann's. This is because 

 the wood of the branches, looking down 

 upon them, is plainly visible in the case 

 of homolepis, whereas in Nordmann's the 

 leaves are so abundant as to hide the wood 

 altogether. 



I must confess that I cannot distinguish 

 the other Japanese fir (A. Veitchii) by 

 texture alone. Bailey's Cyclopedia gives 

 no help, except as to the cones. Both 

 have dark green leaves with silvery lin- 

 ings. The only clear difference, outside 

 of the cones is that the bark of Veitchii 

 is grayish white, while that of homolepis 

 is grayish brown. Possibly there are several 

 forms in the trade, for at Queen's, Long 

 Island, it is spoken of as the "best light 

 green fir, but like all quick growers 

 it gets thin quickly." Veitch's fir might 

 be called the Fuji fir since it grows on 

 that sacred mountain. 



DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIRS AND SPRUCES 



Every year thousands of people ask 

 "What is the difference between a fir and 

 a spruce?" The surest difference lies in 

 the cones. Fir cones are erect, and the 

 scales drop off every year when the seeds 

 do. Spruce cones are reflexed, and the 

 scales remain for many years. But this 

 does not help us with young trees, for they 

 do not have cones. Spruce leaves are 

 generally arranged on all sides of a branch 

 so as to give a cylindrical effect. Fir leaves 

 generally have the appearance of being 

 in two ranks, or, at least, they do not point 

 down from the lower side of a branch. 

 (Nurserymen please take notice. Many 

 of you are as far behind the times on nomen- 

 clature as Noah. You get the firs and 

 spruces exactly reversed. Follow Bailey's 

 Cyclopedia.) 



A SPRUCE-LIKE FIR 



But whenever a person makes a definition 

 he is likely to get into trouble. For instance, 

 the Spanish fir {Abies Pinsapo) has its leaves 

 arranged exactly like a spruce. Then, 

 again, it was only a moment ago that I 

 said I would describe only sharp-pointed 

 firs and the Spanish fir might seem to 

 many people to have blunt leaves. They 

 certainly are not nearly as prickly to the touch 

 as others I have mentioned, but their effect 

 on the eye is instantaneously different. 

 The leaves are the shortest I know — about 

 three-eighths of an inch, and so crowded 

 that they outline the branches with extra- 

 ordinary precision. It must be the stiffest 

 of all firs, and, therefore, we need not greatly 

 regret that it is not very hardy north of the 

 Middle States. 



THE BEST COLLECTIONS OF FIRS 



The best place to study conifers in the 

 United States is the Arnold Arboretum at 

 Jamaica Plain, Mass. The oldest large 

 collection of conifers is on the Hunnewell 



The cheerfullest of aU the dark green, firs, be- 

 cause the most lustrous, is the Crimean fir (.1. 



Nordmanrdana) 



estate at Wellesley, Mass. Mr. Palmer's 

 collection at Stamford, Conn., is now being 

 broken up. There is a good pinetum at 

 Highland Park, Rochester, N. Y. The 

 oldest collection near New York is that 

 of Mr. Paul Dana at Dosoris, N. Y., to 

 whom I am indebted (through his most 

 efficient gardener, John F. Johnston) for 

 specimens of nearly all the species above 

 described, and also some others of which 

 Bailey gives no account. Mr. Dana also 

 has A. Parsonsiana, which is considered 

 a synonym of A. concolor and A. Bab- 

 orensis or Numidica, a species from the 

 north of Africa, but he can grow many 

 fine trees of warmer climates because of 

 his splendid system of windbreaks. Bilt- 

 more, N. C, has, or did have, a fine collec- 

 tion of firs, including every species above 

 named, and A. venusta or bracteata, 

 Sachalinensis, Webbiana, or Pindrow and 

 Movie or firma; also all those from the 

 Pacific Coast. 



FIRS 200 TO 300 FEET HIGH 



I am strongly tempted to describe four 

 titanic firs that attain 150 to 300 feet on 

 the Pacific Coast — A. amabilis, grandis, 

 nobilis, and magnified, but what's the use? 

 We cannot hope to grow them with any 

 satisfaction east of the Rockies. And my 

 closing thought is this: The eastern slope 

 of the Great Divide ought to be scoured for 

 every conifer that grows wild on the dry 

 and barren side. Let us hope that the 

 Arnold Arboretum will get funds for such 

 an expedition and bring us the superb firs 

 of the Pacific Coast in a form we can 

 hope to grow. 



