EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 
541 
Spruce is a graceful mass of drooping foliage from youth to age, but 
perhaps there is no period when its graces are more conspicuous, 
and its faults less so, than when it has been planted from fifteen to 
twenty years. After that age it begins to exhibit, little by little, the 
dark interior colors and saggy droop of boughs that give it, to a 
slight degree, a sombre and monotonous expression, reminding one 
of the dripping moss-hung trees of evergreen swamps. In June 
and July, when the growing twigs are in a succulent state, and 
bending by their own weight, their velvety masses of verdure pro- 
duce a more exquisite effect than those of any deciduous tree 
we know of, and very few evergreens equal the Norway spruce in 
this species of grace ; though most of the Abies and Ficea family 
are peculiarly beautiful during the growing season from the same 
cause. 
There is a great difference of growth among Norway spruce 
trees, and a skillful judge of trees will be able to select from the 
nursery those which are likely to develop the greatest luxuriance of 
foliage and grace of form ; or, at least those which will develop the 
greatest beauty during fifteen or twenty years. After that age it 
sometimes happens that trees of the stiffer and more meagre foliage 
while young, form heads as dense and well broken by light and 
shadow as those which have been more beautiful in their early 
growth. 
In Chapter XIV will be found some suggestions on artificial 
adaptations of trees, some of which will apply to the Norway spruce. 
Some interesting dwarfs and sports of this species are peculiarly 
adapted to small grounds. The following are some of them : 
The Pigmy Fir. Abies excelsa pygmoea. — This diminutive vari- 
ety is perhaps the smallest of firs, not exceeding one foot in height, 
but growing more laterally. Its foliage is minute, of a light green 
or golden tinge. Hardy. 
The Dwarf Black Spruce. Abies e. nigra pumila.—Thiis is a 
little larger than the preceding, and grows from two to three feet in 
height and three to four feet in breadth. Foliage dark colored. 
Clanbrasil’s Dwarf Spruce. A. e. clajibrassiliajia. — This is 
a little larger than the preceding, attaining a height of from two to 
four feet, and about equal breadth. It is considered less healthy in 
