I. 3. THE BALSAM FIR. 87 
extremity of the branches. Each ament is on a short footstalk, 
which rises from a cup-like, irregular scale, in the axil of a leaf. 
The cones are erect, near the ends of the upper branches, 
from two to four inches long, and an inch or more thick, nearly 
cylindrical or a little tapermg, with the ends rounded, and set 
on very short, stout footstalks. ‘They are made up of broad, 
round, bluish, purple scales, outside each of which is a scale 
resembling a transformed, winged leaf, and within are two 
seeds with short, broad, purple wings. They stand in great 
numbers on the uppermost branches, and, by their soft purple 
color, produce a fine effect. 
The balsam is gathered, in small quantities, by puncturing 
the tubercles in the bark and receiving it in a cup, or shell, or 
an iron spoon. ‘The process is a slow one, and the turpentine, 
which, under the name of balsam of Gilead, or Canada balsam, 
is reputed to have great virtues in pulmonary complaints, is 
sold at a high price in this country and in England. A valu- 
able varnish for water-colors is prepared from it. 
The wood of the fir is of little value, as it is deficient in 
hardness, strength and elasticity, and the tree does not often 
attain a large size. It is hardy, easily transplanted, and grows 
rapidly and with great vigor, and possesses in a high degree the 
most important qualities of the evergreens as an ornamental 
tree, a regular pyramidal shape, and rich, deep-green foliage. 
The large cones with which the upper branches are often load- 
ed, give it additional beauty. Its defects are its stiffness, and 
the raggedness which it assumes in old age, which comes on 
early; as it is a short-lived tree. 
Its chief recommendations are its hardiness and quickness of 
erowth. It stands unprotected against the wind, when not 
blowing from the sea, better than any other tree, and grows on 
a bleak point where any other would be killed. Of several 
firs in the Botanic Garden, which had been planted in 1809 or 
10, the largest measured, in 1841, after it had been thirty-one 
years planted, four feet two inches, at the ground, and three 
feet five inches, at three feet. One, planted in 1814, measured 
three feet ten inches at the ground, two feet six inches at three 
feet; and one, planted in 1819 or ’20, measured three feet one 
