Order VIII. 
MONCECIA MONADELPHIA. 
805 
13519 Leaves S very long, Cones subcylindrical muricated, Stipules pinnatifid ragged persistent 
13520 Lvs. very tine and slender of a bright glaucous green, Cones oblong pendulous. Scales obtuse spreading . 
13521 Leaves 3 very fine very long, Sheath long. Stipules entire deciduous, Crest of anthers convex entire 
13522 Leaves quinate. Cones cylindrical longer than leaf lax 
13523 Leaves quinate. Cones ovate obtuse, Scales appressed, Nuts hard 
13524 Leaves solitary glaucous beneath emarginate. Cones ovate obi. erect, I'ractes oblong reflexed emargiiiate 
13525 Leaves solitary flat emarginate pectinate. Scales of cone very blunt appressed 
13526 Leaves solitary flat emarginate subpectinate suberect above. Scales of the cone in fl. acuminate reflexed 
13527 Leaves solitary flat toothletted somewhat distichous. Cones ovate terminal scarcely longer than leaf 
13528 Leaves solitary 4-cornered, Cones ovate cylindrical, Scales rhomboid 
13529 This is a stunted variety of Abies communis 
13530 Leaves solitary 4-cornered, Cones cylindrical, Scales rhomboid flattened repand at end eroded 
13531 Leaves solitai-y 4-cornered incurved, Cones subcylindrical lax, Scales obovate entire 
and Miscellaneous Particulars. 
midrib, giving the leaves that silvery look which has given rise to the name. The timber is reckoned much 
inferior in value to that of the common pine, or of the white spruce. It should not be cut till after forty or 
lifty years growth ; at this age, if it has grown in a sheltered rocky steep or doll, it will be found to havu 
produced a great bulk of timber. It is more prolific in resinous matter than any otlier tree of the fir kind. 
A. balsamea is a tree of more delicate habits than the silver fir : its timber is of little value, and the balm or 
resin procured from it possesses no medical properties superior to those of common turpentine. During 
summer, the tree sends out a pleasing terebinthinate odor. 
A. canadensis is a drooping low evergreeu tree, elegant in appearance, and valuable as growing under the 
shade or drip of other trees. 
All the species of the pine, fir, and larch families, with the exception of one or two, as yet rare in this 
country, are raised from seeds. The cones are gathered in the winter season, and exposed to the sun, or to a 
gentle heat on a kiln, in order to facilitate the separation of the seeds. The cones of the cedar shoulu be kept 
for a year at least after they are taken from the tree, before the seed be attempted to be taken out. This is 
necessary on account of the soft nature of the seeds, and the great quantity of resinous matter which the cones 
contain when growing, and which is discharged by keeping. Cedar cones are generally imported from the 
Levant, and the seeds retain their vegetative powers for many years. The cones of the Scotch i)ine, spruce, 
and larch, are the principal kinds which are opened by kiln heat. The cones of the Weymouth pine, silver fir, 
and balm of Gilead fir, give out their seeds with very little trouble. April is the best season for sowing all the 
species. The soil should be soft and rich, well mellowed by the preceding winter's frost and snow, carefully 
dug and raked with a long toothed rake as finely as possible. The rarer sorts are generally sown in pots, but 
the more common in beds. The manner of sowing is by first drawing off the surface of the bed to the depth 
of half an inch ; then drawing a light roller along it to render the surface perfectly even ; next depositing the 
seed ; and afterwards replacing the earth drawn off with a spade as evenly as possible. This is what is techni- 
cally called bedding in, and is one of the nicest operations of nursery culture. The seed of the Scotch pine 
and Pinaster require a covering of half an inch in depth ; those of the Weymouth pine, three quarters of an 
inch ; and those of the stone pine, an inch and a quarter. The Cedar is generally sown in broad pots, or boxes 
of light sandy loam, and covered half an inch. The seeds of the larch require a covering of only a quarter of 
an inch ; those of the spruce fir, an inch ; those of the silver fir and balm of Gilcad fir, from hall to three 
quarters of an inch. The seeds of the American spruce fir are smaller than those of any of the preceding 
kinds, and therefore require a lighter covering than any of them ; one-fifth of an inch is quite sufficient. The 
strictest attention is required, both in regard to quality of soil, and thickness of covering the seed ; for though 
resinous trees are extremely hardy when grown up, yet they are all very tender in infancy. In sowing the 
seed, a considerable loss will be sustained by the sufibcation of young plants if it is deposited too thick, and by 
the want of plants if too thin. The judicious gardener will be regulated by the goodness of the seed, and the 
size of the foliage of the different species. The raising regular crops of the pine family is reckoned a master 
piece of nursery culture in the open ground ; and as it has been most extensively practised in the Scotch 
nurseries, it is generally considered as best understood there. (See Sang. Plant. Kal.) 
The pine, fir, and larch families benefit less by transplanting in the nursery than the non-resinous trees. 
And in general, where circumstances admit, the better plan is to remove them at once from the seed-bed at 
two years old, to where they are finally to remain. The more delicate species, including the cedar and most 
of the pines, are best transplanted into pots, unless they can be placed at once where they are to remain. 
The more common pines and firs are transplanted at two years of age into nursery lines, about the middle of 
April for all the tribe, excepting the larch, which, being deciduous, should be transplanted in February. No 
description of tree-plants receive so much injury as this tribe from the loss of roots, from the roots' being 
exposed to the air by being kept long out of the soil, or from compression and exclusion of air and moisture 
by being kept in close buiuUes, or thick layers. They should, therefore, be finally planted as soon as possible 
after removal from the nursery ; and, indeed, whenever it is practicable, no more should be taken up in one 
day than can be planted that day or the next. Nor are any plants more easily deprived of the vital principle, 
by packing and carriage either by sea or land ; tliough, being all evergreens, excepting the larch, they do not 
readily show it. This has been stated to us by experienced planters in Wales and ditterent parts of England, 
as the reason why so few trees are finally produced from the immense numbers of Scotch pine and larch fir 
annually sent to the south by the Scotch nurserymen. 
Abies Balsamea forms an elegant tree forty or fifty feet high. It grows in high and cold situations in the 
northern states of North America, where it is called balsam of Gilead fir, fir balsam, and American silver fir. 
3 F S 
