133 
§ II. Picea. Scales of the cone persistent, excavated at tire base ; testa of 
the seed woody. Anthers opening longitudinally. 
HEMLOCK SPRUCE FIR. 
Abies canadensis. To the localities of this common spe- 
cies we may also add the north-west coast of America, 
where it was collected by Dr. Scouler , and has been 
observed by Dr. Tolmie as far north along that coast as 
Milbank Sound and Stikine. It is a tree of common 
occurrence in the pine forests around Vancouver and along 
the high banks of the Wahlamet and the Oregon. 
The Hemlock Spruce makes very good boards, shingles, 
and scantling when seasoned ; it is very proper for floors, 
as it lasts long and never shrinks. Used as weather-boards 
for houses ; after 30 years exposure, I have observed it to 
be still comparatively sound. According to Marshall, the 
aborigines made use of the bark to dye their splints for 
baskets of a red colour. 
S. W. Roberts, Esq., Civil Engineer, writes to me, “some 
years ago I was the Resident Engineer of the Portage Rail 
Road over the Alleghany Mountain. When it was com- 
menced in 1831, we cut a road, 120 feet wide, through 
the forest for about thirty miles. The most numerous trees 
were Hemlock Spruce , and the toil of making the prelimi- 
nary surveys was much increased by the necessity of con- 
stantly climbing over, or creeping under, the immense 
trunks of fallen trees of this sort, which were lying about 
in every direction in that primeval forest. Old Hemlocks 
rot rapidly, and these were in all stages of decay. Hem- 
Vol. in. — 18 
