XXX.] 
FIRS. 
2 55 
{Abies alba), which has longer cones, spindle-shaped, 
also dependant, with the scales smooth and entire on 
the edge. 
The White Spruce are the only deals shipped to this 
country from Canada as a clearly-defined class, all others 
being simply known here as Canadian, St. John’s, &c. 
Spruce. 
The London market was supplied with about i, 100,000 
Spruce deals in 1871, 1,080,000 in 1872, 2,000,000 in 
1873, and the immense quantity of 2,300,000 pieces in 
1874, prepared generally in dimensions of 3 inches thick, 
9 inches broad, and 12 to 21 feet in length. The bulk 
of these were sorted by brackers previous to shipment 
into first, second, and third qualities. Those of the first 
quality are perfectly clean, sound, and free from knots, 
sap, and defects; the second quality are also sound, 
and tolerably clean, but include deals with a few 
knots and some sap upon the edges ; while the third 
quality includes and admits all the faulty and coarser 
descriptions of deals, and some of them are very rough 
indeed. 
As a rule, there is no brand other than a red chalk 
mark drawn once, twice, or thrice across the deal, to 
distinguish between the several qualities, and it is neces¬ 
sary that a careful inspection should be made before 
purchasing them. The relative values of the Canadian 
and New Brunswick Spruce deals in the London market 
are about as follows, viz., the 1st quality Canadian is to 
1st quality New Brunswick Spruce as ro : *82; the 
2nd and 3rd quality Canadian is to 2nd and 3rd New 
Brunswick Spruce as ro : -90; and these figures indicate 
approximately the difference in their respective qualities. 
All these deals are employed extensively in carpentry, 
ship, and engineering works. 
