108 
HEMLOCK SPRUCE. 
and the sprightlier tint of its foliage, while it hears the pruning-hook with 
equal patience : this remark I made while observing the Spruces upon an 
open, dry, stony spot between Portland and York. 
Unhappily the properties of its wood are such as to give this species 
only a secondary importance, notwithstanding its abundant diffusion : it is 
the least valuable in this respect of all the large resinous trees of North 
America.- But the regret which we should experience to see it occupying 
so extensively the place of more useful species, is forbidden by a property 
of its bark inestimable to the country where it grows, that of being appli- 
cable in tanning. 
It is esteemed an excellence in wood to split in a straight line, which it 
does when the fibre is vertical : that of the Hemlock Spruce is so oblique 
that it makes the circuit of stocks 15 or 20 inches in diameter in ascending 
5 or 6 feet. Besides this defect which is essential, and which renders it 
unfit for rural fence, the old trees frequently have the concentric circles 
separated at intervals, or, in the language of the country, are shaky, which 
greatly impairs their strength. This effect is produced by the winds, which 
have a powerful hold upon a large, compact summit, exposed above the 
heads of the surrounding trees. It is found to decay rapidly when open to 
the atmosphere, and is therefore improper for the external covering of 
houses, which is another important defect in a country where nearly all 
the houses are of wood. But as thA White Pine becomes rarer this species 
is substituted for it as extensively as possible : it is firmer, though coarser 
grained, affords a tighter hold to nails, and offers more resistance to the 
impression of other bodies ; for this reason it is employed in the District of 
Maine, in the form of two-inch planks, for threshing floors. But the most 
common use, in which great quantities of it are consumed in the Northern 
States, is for the first sheathing of wooden houses, which are afterwards 
covered with clap-boards of White Pine. For economy the interior frame 
is sometimes made of Hemlock Spruce, and it is found, when guarded from 
humidity, to be as durable as any other species. It is always chosen for 
the laths of the interior walls, and is exported in this form to England. 
In the District of Maine, it is usually taken for the posts of rural fences 
which last about fifteen years, and are preferable to those of Gray and 
Red Oak. It contains little resin, and I have found the trunk but slightly 
coated with turpentine where large pieces of bark had been removed long 
before. 
I have already observed that this bark is a substitute for that of the 
Oaks in the preparation of leather. It is taken from the tree in the month 
of June, and half the epidermis is shaved off with a plane before it is 
thrown into the mill. From the District of Maine it is exported to Boston, 
Providence, etc., and is almost exclusively employed in the tan-yards. It 
is brought to New York from the upper parts of the Hudson, and is some- 
