PINETUM BRITANNICUM. 
the soil for the benefit of the hardwood, which send their roots deeper down; consequently, much injury is often done by this means ; and this I 
have frequently seen proved. The Spruce Fir, as also all the Coniferous tribe, are best suited for timber when planted in a mass by themselves ; 
but seeing that it is proper, and even necessary, to have a proportion of them planted for the benefit of nursing up our hardwood plantations while 
in a young state, I recommend planting the Spruce but sparingly for that purpose, having found the Scots Pine and Larch answer much better.” 
We confess that we have more faith in Mr Brown’s practical experience than in the reasoning on 
which he rests his opinion; and are inclined to regard the Scots Fir as the best nurse of the three (Larch, 
Spruce, and Scots Fir). Theoretically, each might be considered best adapted for a particular kind of 
locality : as, for instance, the Spruce might be considered the best on the most exposed situations, as being 
the thickest, and therefore furnishing the most perfedt shelter; but as it does not itself thrive so well as the 
Scots Fir in such positions, that tree must have the preference, as there can be no doubt that a thriving 
Scots Fir is better than an unthriving Spruce. In very sheltered situations, where there is little wind, the 
Larch may be better than either. 
The Spruce makes very fair hedges. Loudon says that such hedges are not unfrequent in Switzer¬ 
land and some parts of Bavaria and Baden, and that in 1814 (we presume the observation is taken from 
some account of the French invasion in that year) Spruce hedges were observed in some gentlemen’s 
gardens near Moscow, between 30 and 40 feet high. We know that in this country, so long as the trees 
are young, the hedge thrives ; but we anticipate, although we cannot speak from experience, as we never 
saw an old one, that when the plants get old the hedge will become bare and open. A great deal will 
depend, however, upon the treatment and care it receives. Among its other good properties, the Spruce 
is an excellent cover to game. 
Besides the shipping uses to which the trees are put, such as masts, yards, oars, &c., the timber is 
applied to almost all economical purposes : in building houses, upholstery, and cabinet-work. It is much 
used as the substructure of which veneered furniture is made, as no wood glues better. It is easily 
carved, stained, polished, and gilded, and is celebrated for making musical instruments. Many a fine 
“ Cremona ” has been made of it. 
In its native wilds it is put to some primitive uses, which civilized nations with better means reject. 
A poor beverage, called spruce-beer, is made from the buds and young shoots, which are also some¬ 
times used as a winter food for cattle and sheep, and given to horses, mixed with oats or other food. 
The sawdust, in times of scarcity, is even mixed with meal, to make cakes for the inhabitants them¬ 
selves. The Laplanders are said to eat the cone-like excrescences produced by the chermes ; and whey, 
in which the cones have been boiled, is said to be a remedy for the scurvy. 
Culture .—The Spruce grows in soil of almost any quality, but requires a certain amount of 
moisture. In thin, poor, and bare soil, or in sand, its progress is very slow and unsatisfactory. In 
deep loam, it grows very rapidly. But although it likes moisture, it must not be stagnant; the drainage 
must be good, although not too complete. Situation, too, is considered by foresters to be a point of 
great importance in the cultivation of this tree. Mr Brown, in his “ Forester,” gives an example or 
two from the Spruce Fir plantations at Arniston, shewing how it varies by soil and situation. In a 
sheltered glen behind Arniston garden, there are Spruce Firs from 80 to 95 feet high, with a diameter 
near the bottom of from 2 to 3 feet; and, generally, these trees are in good health. The soil upon 
which they grow is in many places a stiff blue clay, in other places a clay loam, and in a few 
instances it is a sandy loam. These trees being nearly all alike situated as regards shelter, he 
finds that the largest and healthiest-looking trees were those growing upon the clay loam ; next to 
them those growing upon stiff clay; the least healthy being those growing upon the sandy loam. 
As these trees are all of the same apparent age, he concluded that, other circumstances being 
alike, the Spruce Fir will thrive best upon a loamy soil, and worst upon an open dry gravelly 
one. 
In other sheltered parts upon the same estate, there were large healthy Spruce Firs growing 
upon 
