8 
THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 
which it is in some degree a substitute, though spruce boards 
do not possess the good quaUties 
of pine in the same degree. It 
is much used in building. The 
hemlock, as you are aware, is a 
majestic tree, though of very 
little use ; and as it grows on 
the poorest and most swampy 
land, it is generally regarded as 
an incumbrance, not worth the 
labour of felling. Yet it is some- 
times sawn into board and plank; 
the former, though rough-grain- 
ed, answers for under- covering 
of roofs, and for fencing ; and the 
latter, from its solidity, is well 
enough adapted for the flooring 
of barns. But as many good- 
looking trees prove unsound at 
heart, it is not much sought for, 
and is often burnt on the land 
when cut down, after having 
been first stripped of its bark, spruce. 
which is bought at a good price P^nus Nigra, 
by the tanners. 
C What is that yellow hair-like substance, which de- 
pends in long ragged masses from the hemlock and other 
trees, but most abundantly from the spruce ? 
jF. — A friend of mine gave it the name of " Absalom's 
Hair." It is a Lichen, but I do not know its name. It 
chiefly entwines about the upper branches of the tree, to 
which I should suppose it is very prejudicial, as those trees 
which are covered with it seem almost in a dying state. It 
