120 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



"The Columbia Silver Fir {Abies nobilis) is 

 found all over Northern California and Oregon, 

 where it grows some 260 feet high, and justifies its 

 name by its superb appearance. The leaves, which 

 are erect upon the branches, turn their glaucous- 

 green undersides to the sun, so that the silvery tones 

 of the tree almost equal those of concolor. With 

 me, so far, it shows little sign of development in close 

 plantation ; possibly it awaits at leisure the moment 

 to shoot up. An isolated specimen, somewhat shel- 

 tered, however, by adjacent plantations, and aged be- 

 tween thirteen and fourteen years, is nearly 20 feet 

 high and 16 inches in girth. Last year it put out a 

 28-inch shoot. 



"The Russian Silver Fir {Abies Nordman- 

 niand). — Native of the Caucasus, and one of the 

 handsomest of conifers, it is too well known to need 

 description. It is as slow to develop in its first years 

 as its pectinate relative, and starts later in the spring. 

 It is seldom hurt by frosts, a fact which enables us 

 to dispense with shelter in its case. Planted close 

 in 1889, it is now over 14 feet high and about 

 8 inches in girth. It is one of the chief forest trees 

 of South-East Russia. Its wood, when matured, is 

 of superior quality, and as it endures the heat better 

 than the common Fir, it might well take the place of 

 the latter in some central and southern localities. 



" To sum up, these silver-foliaged Firs, though 

 of slow growth at first, seem to do as well as could 

 be expected, and are beginning to shoot up, giving 

 promise of fine vegetation in our cool soils. Only 

 in exceptional cases have they suffered from the 

 spring frosts, although the severe weather of May 

 1897 (when already well in vegetation), followed by 

 some days of hot sun, sorely tried them, and their 

 growth was retarded ; but the same happened to 

 many of the common species, which are usually 

 proof against such attacks. 



" The Andalusian Fir {Abies pinsapd) is also a 

 native of Kabylie, and seems to be at home on the 

 limestone slopes of the Loire. It accommodates 

 itself also to our sandy soils, and is not afraid of 

 a warm exposure. Two isolated specimens of mine 

 are very stout trees about 16 feet high. Some 

 younger specimens, closely planted, are not more 

 than 6i or 9^- feet, but these have already put out 

 some strong and lengthy leading shoots. The wood 

 of the pinsapo resembles in all respects (according 

 to Mathieu) that of the common Fir. 



" The Trebizonde Spruce {Abies orientalis) is 

 very hardy in our cool soil. It closely resembles the 

 common Spruce, with smaller leaves, growing closer 

 round the branchlets. Its hue is deep green, and 

 its habit graceful. Its wood is of high quality, elastic 

 and durable, but it grows slowly, and could only be 

 raised in rows with quick-growing nursing, though 

 in the Caucasus region it forms an important part 



of the forest, sometimes attaining a height of 160 

 feet. 



" The Sitka Spruce {Abies sitchensis) is, perhaps, 

 with the Douglas Fir, the most valuable importation 

 for woodland cultivation we have from North- West 

 America. It is of robust habit, forming a broad pyra- 

 mid with silvery and very prickly foliage, thickly set 

 round the branches like that of the pinsapo. Some 

 isolated specimens have not succeeded at Vaux, 

 having suffered from the droughts and heats of our 

 summers ; but, planted close in lines, they are doing 

 well. The species is not exacting, given a cool and 

 light soil. It stands moisture better than drought, 

 and in our warm, sandy, and gravelly soils the vege- 

 tation is wretched. Grown in a cool heath soil some 

 plants are doing very well. 



"The Douglas Fir {Abies Douglasii) is, so far 

 with us and everywhere, I believe, a triumph of exotic 

 conifer acclimatisation. Some isolated specimens 

 planted at Vaux are examples of remarkable rapidity 

 ingrowth. One specimen which I planted in 1875 

 on a most ungrateful sand, where it has never been 

 possible to grow the least turf, is at the present time 

 43 feet high and some 4 feet 6 inches in girth. It has 

 grown up under rather singular conditions. Every 

 four or five years its leader — which in this specimen 

 is long, thick, and sappy — was broken off, owing to 

 the magpies alighting on it ; and on each such occa- 

 sion a side branch took its place. After a sloping 

 growth of a year or two the branch took a vertical 

 direction, so that the tree continues straight; and 

 each successive breaking off of the leader, without 

 much lessening the height of the tree, has added to 

 its girth and spreading habit. Wherever it is planted 

 amongst other Firs the Douglas is facile princeps. Its 

 culture cannot be too strongly recommended, espe- 

 cially to owners of soils that are at all cool, provided 

 the proportion of limestone in such soils is not ex- 

 cessive, limestone soils being unsuited to it. 



"Prince Albert's Fir {Abies Mertensiand). — 

 This species is nearly allied to canadensis^ or the 

 Hemlock Spruce, but its growth is more vigorous 

 and its wood of better quality. The shoots of the 

 young plants are, perhaps, more sensitive to spring 

 frost. A line of these Firs planted as a border to 

 a mixed wood of Oak and Pine (a condition un- 

 favourable to their vegetation) held out bravely for 

 a time ; most of the trees, however, subsequently 

 fell victims to the extreme heat and drought of the 

 summers of 1900, the Pines absorbing the little 

 moisture the soil contained. 



" Atlantic Cedar {Cedrus atlantica). — Manetti 

 is considered to be a variety of C. Libani, but never- 

 theless differs from it in its more erect habit and the 

 greater slenderness of its branches. Its growth at 

 Vaux is rapid, and it promises to be very hardy, even 

 planted in poor soil. The Cedars are hardy and 



