ON THE PINUS AUSTRIACA. 
303 
cold, dry, poor, sandy or gravelly soils, and that it grows rapidly and 
yields timber of the best quality. During my visit in 1834 to the con¬ 
tinent, finding that, since Professor Hoss’s publication had appeared, 
much attention had been directed to this valuable tree—and under¬ 
standing that the best authorities coincided in stating that cold stony 
soils, rocky situations, and rough climates are best adapted for it, and 
that it there thrives much better than any other tree—and also that 
deep rich soils, warm situations, and warm climates are quite unsuit¬ 
able for it—and, further, that it grows vigorously on plains of poor 
soil, if it be dry and contain a quantity of broken stones or gravel-—it 
appeared to me that the introduction of so valuable a tree into the 
forests of our country was an object of some importance. 
44 The timber of the black fir is represented to be very resinous, 
firm, and tough, and very valuable for all water-work purposes, in 
which it is greatly preferred to larch, as also esteemed by the joiner 
and cooper. When used as fire-wood, it produces a speedy and long- 
lasting heat, burning with a violent flame, and throwing off a large 
quantity of pine-soot (lamp-black). For making charcoal, it is pre¬ 
ferred to the wood of the beech. The chips of the timber are used 
by the peasantry in several parts of Austria for lights, in place of 
candles; and it produces more turpentine than any other resinous 
tree. 
44 In Austria, this fir predominates in the Wienerwald, the Banate, 
on the Domoglet at Mehadia, near the Hercules Baths, in the vicinity 
of the Austrian snow mountains, where it rises higher than the Pinus 
sylvestris. Through the medium of my friends, Messrs. Booth of 
Hamburgh, I obtained a quantity of the seeds last year, which have 
grown luxuriantly in our nursery on light soil, having long penetrating 
roots; and, as one-year-old plants, they are double the size of our own 
country Scotch fir. The seeds pretty nearly resemble those of the 
Pinus Laricio, but from which the tree differs essentially, and is easily 
distinguished in an advanced state by having stronger and more spread¬ 
ing branches, and the leaves or needles wanting that tortuous appear¬ 
ance which those of the Pinus Laricio present. 
44 Having had an opportunity of conversing with M. Vilmorin at Paris 
about it, in the summer of 1835, I found that he was aware of its 
valuable properties, and considered it of quicker growth than even Pi 
Laricio , or Corsican pine, and that it is nearly allied to the Pin de 
Calabre and de Romanic, both of which are little known in this coun¬ 
try, and I believe not so quick in growth as the P. Austriaca, nor so 
well fitted for the mountainous districts of Scotland, for which I should 
