228 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



from cuttings of the soft shoots or from 

 portions of the root-stock, which often 

 sends out runners. In places where its 

 hardiness is in doubt or where the soil 

 is at all wet, a good plan is to strike a 

 few cuttings in the autumn and winter 

 them under glass in the event of loss 

 during a severe season. Young plants 

 may also be lifted from the border on 

 the approach of frost and, potted up, 

 will continue in flower a good part of 

 the winter. Upon light sandy soils the 

 plant should be mulched and freely 

 watered in hot weather, though under 

 northern skies it is less sensitive to sun- 

 light; on heavier ground good drainage 

 is the first essential, with some protec- 

 tion at the root during winter. Its name 

 of Cape Fig-wort is from a fancied re- 

 semblance to the Common Fig-wort, a 

 native plant to which it is (botanically) 

 allied. B. 



THE GREATER TREES OF THE 

 NORTHERN FOREST.— No. 17. 

 THE WESTERN HEMLOCK (Tsu- 

 ga heterophylld). 



A noble tree, with the vigour of the Pine 

 and the grace of a fern, perfectly hardy, 

 and, coming from cool and wet regions 

 like much of our own country, it pro- 

 mises to be one of the best trees for the 

 British Islands ever introduced. The 

 Canadian Hemlock (T'suga canadensis) , 

 which was long the only known tree of 

 this group, while hardy as a Briar, never 

 takes in our country the handsome shape 

 described in the writings of American 

 tree-lovers, and such as I have seen it in 

 Canada. The Western Hemlock, on the 

 other hand, has a free growth in our 



country and a good character for its 

 wood, although the bad name of the 

 Canadian Spruce timber has clung to it 

 so long that it has prevented its use even 

 in its own country. The grace of the tree 

 is unsurpassed, and its fine pyramidal 

 form and light leaf-growth make it a 

 storm resister — a good point in a tree 

 for a windy and wet country. It has also 

 another precious quality for us, namely, 

 that of supporting shade. This must be 

 taken with some reserve, because all 

 trees, especially the northern trees, love 

 the sun, but in youth a tree that endures 

 shade is valuable because it can be planted 

 under other trees to vary and to replace 

 them. This quality is, perhaps, all the 

 more precious to us because of the large 

 area of woodland now useless and in 

 need of replanting in districts where the 

 Western Hemlock thrives. So far as it 

 has been tried in Britain it is a very pro- 

 mising tree, and as it comes from a coun- 

 try with a good rainfall, may be expected 

 to do best in the south and western parts 

 of England, Wales, and Ireland, where 

 the rainfall is heaviest. In my own plant- 

 ing I find it to be fully as free as any Pine 

 in the home counties. 



So popular are the Douglas Fir and 

 the Big Tree in our country that few 

 people think of other trees as approach- 

 ing them closely in stature. This lovely 

 tree rivals them in height, sometimes at- 

 taining to 2 50 feet and even more, with 

 a maximum diameter of 8 feet, the ave- 

 rage diameter being about 5 feet, with 

 a smooth, rounded trunk, and small, 

 graceful branchlets. 



The Western Hemlock ex- 

 tends from Alaska south- 



Area. 



