356 



THE SCOTCH FIR OR PINE. 



There are two principal varieties of the Scotch 

 Fir : in one, the trunk is red and nearly smooth, 

 the branches form a pyramidal head, and the cones 

 are abundant, tapering almost to a point ; in the 

 other, the trunk is rugged and yellowish brown, 

 the branches take a horizontal direction or bend 

 downwards, the cones are less numerous and not 

 so much pointed, and the leaves are shorter, of a 

 much lighter, and decidedly glaucous, hue. The 

 timber of the former variety is white, soft, and of 

 little value ; that of the latter is red, firm, resinous, 

 and durable. 



In the natural forests of Pine, the young plants, 

 being the produce of different years, and conse- 

 quently of various sizes, the stronger gradually de- 

 stroy the weaker, until the wood is reduced to the 

 distances at which the trees can ultimately stand, 

 whilst the lateral branches gradually decay and fall 

 off, so that thinning and pruning are quite unne- 

 cessary. In short, a natural or self-sown forest of 

 Pines is left entirely to nature. Nature sows the 

 seed, rears the tree, prunes and thins the wood ; 

 and the hand of man is applied only to cut it down 

 when fit for timber. In planted woods, the Pines 

 are commonly of the same age and size ; and then 

 it is absolutely necessary to thin them, as their 

 tops rise equal, and form a surface parallel to that 

 of the ground on which they stand; therefore, 

 without relief by thinning, the whole are, to a 

 certain extent, injured. 



Gilpin considers the Scotch Fir, when in per- 

 fection, a very picturesque tree, and admires 

 both the colour of the leaf and its mode of 

 growth. Its ramification," he says, ^' is irregular 

 and beautiful, and not unlike that of the Stone 



