PINETUM DANICUM. 



471 



tion of wood is likewise rapid, and in support of this statement one 

 of many instances which came under my notice may be cited. A tree 

 of this kind was planted in good soil and a sheltered southern situa- 

 tion in 1854, at that time being a robust-growing si)ecimen of 3 feet in 

 height. In 1884, or thirty years afterwards, it had attained to 55 feet, 

 when it was found to contain 61 cubic feet of wood, giving an average 

 annual increase of fully 2 cubic feet. 



The home-grown timber of A. nobilis is not of first-rate quality, it 

 being, in every instance where I have had the chance of examining 

 it, soft, easily worked, and clean-grained. The timber of mature trees 

 will no doubt be of better quality than that of specimens of thirty years' 

 growth. Introduced in 1831 (Trans. Roy. Scot. Arb. Soc. xii. pt. 2). 



A. nobilis is to be seen in Danish gardens of an age of about 

 thirty years, and approaching 20 feet in height. It has produced 

 cones in some gardens. 



A. ITordmanniana, Link in Linnjea, xv. 528 ; Spach, Hist. 

 Yeg. Phan. xi. 418. Pinus Nordmanniana, Stev. Bull. Soc. Nat. 

 Mosc. 1838, 45, t. 2. Ficea Nordmanniana, Loud. Encycl. of Trees, 

 1042, f. 1950. 



Habitat. — Discovered on the top of the Adschar Mountains of the 

 Crimea by the Finnish professor, Alexander JSTordmann. It is also 

 to be found in the Western Caucasus. In the neighbourhood of 

 Aschur it forms large forests mixed with A. orientalis. It is not to 

 be found farther east than Tiflis. 



Introduced into Europe in 1848, when Alexander von Humboldt 

 obtained seeds from the Caucasus, which were sown in the Berlin 

 Botanic Gardens. 



If A. nobilis be the best of the Calif ornian Silver Firs, this is, 

 without doubt, the finest and most valuable of the European or 

 Asiatic species. As a lawn tree it can scarcely be surpassed, the 

 handsome and regular outline, rich glossy green foliage, and 

 stately habit rendering it one of the handsomest of Conifers for 

 ornamental planting. We expect that at no distant date it will 

 supplant the common Silver Fir for forest planting ; the timber is of 

 excellent quality, the tree more ornamental, and as regards soil it is 

 less exacting. Another advantage it has over the common Silver Fir 

 is that, owing to starting into growth later in the spring, it is less 

 apt to be injured by unseasonable frosts. Few trees are less particular 

 as to soil than Nordmann's Fir ; it succeeds well in reclaimed peat- 

 bog, stiff loam, decomposed vegetable matter, and light gravelly soils. 

 For planting on cold, steep declivities, in the vicinity of water, in is in- 

 valuable, and succeeds well where the common Silver Fir, and even the 

 Larch, become seared and unsightly. The timber produced in this 

 country is hard, close-grained, very lasting, and susceptible of a fine 

 polish. It is superior to that of the common Silver Fir, being harder, 

 and firmer in texture, and should its durability prove equal to that 



