44 



THE SILVER FIR. 



THj: SPRUCE. 



The Spruce is not originally a native of Great Bri- 

 tain more than the larch, nor does it appear to have 

 been earlier introduced than the last mentioned tree. 

 The species called the Common Spruce is said to 

 be of Norwegian origin, and in its native country 

 it rises to an amazing height. Here it is not often 

 found above fifty feet high. Being an evergreen, it 

 has a very pleasing effect in winter, so long as its 

 lower branches remain unwithered. There are se- 

 veral American species, as the White, and the 

 Black, so named from the colour of their bark, and 

 the Hemlock Spruce. The two first are pretty com- 

 mon in our nurseries, and seem to thrive in the same 

 kind of land as the Norwegian or Common Spruce. 

 It is this last species that the reader is to under- 

 stand as chiefly intended, as often as the Spruce is 

 mentioned throughout the work, 



THE SILVER FIR. 



The Silver Fir is less common than the spruce. It 

 is likewise a foreigner, and it is believed was first 

 brought to this country from the Levant, or the 

 south of Europe. If it comes from the Levant, 

 it must grow there on high mountains, for it is as 



