f>42 ON FOREST TIMBEK. 
ARTICLE XIII. 
NOTICES ON FOREST TIMBER. 
BY AN ARBOniST. 
(Continued from page 594.^ 
The Scotch Fir thrives at the height of one thousand four hun- 
dred feet above the level of the sea, and the timber which grows on 
the highest elevation is of the best quality, and superior to any for- 
eign timber that is imported. The larch will grow at an elevation 
of about two thousand feet. It is not improbable, that as this tree 
was originally introduced from the mountains of Carniola, it will at 
length degenerate with us, at least as to perfecting healthy seed, 
hence it would be advisable to import annually, at least, a portion of 
the seed for our nurseries from the alpine regions. The Duke of 
Athol sold a larch a of fifty years' growth for twelve guineas ; a scotch 
fir of the same age would be only worth about fifteen shillings. 
The Fir is the "builders timber," and as when the carpenter 
wants a post or beam of peculiar strength and durability, he has re- 
course to the oali : so when the shipwright wishes to have a piece of 
timber, that shall combine lightness with great length, as for a span 
or mast he makes use of the pine. 
The Silver Fir attains the height of upwards of one hundred 
feet ; and one of the trees at Woburn exceeds nine feet in circumfer- 
ence, four feet from the ground ; and has a clear annually pruned 
bole of seventy-five feet, the rapidity of its growth, and the value of 
its timber, which is not liable to warp, are equal to that of any of the 
pine tribe. Some of the Norway houses, built of entire trees of the 
red fir or pine, are supposed to have stood upwards of four hundred 
years. In Guld bransdale, the house is still standing, in which 
King Olaf lodged five nights, above seven hundred years ago ! In the 
dock yards at Venice, spruce and silver fir from the vallies of Venice, 
may be seen 40 yards long and 18 inches diameter at the small end. 
The Pineaster was introduced in 1596, and the Stone Pine 
in 1570, the seeds are esteemed a delicacy by the Chinese, as well 
as the natives of the south of Europe, and appear in their ripe state 
as an article in their choicest deserts. — The advantages derived from 
planting pines in Upland and heathy parts of the country, which 
can scarcely be turned to any other profitable purpose are very many. 
They form a shelter to the little patches of land that are unsuscepti- 
