ABIES DOUGLASII. 
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17 
Bntish Columbia that had been partially embedded in the earth long enough to allow a Hemlock Spruce to 
glow upon it, which was fully 130 years old. Mr Ferris mentions that a section of each had been shipped to 
England, both being equally sound ; as also a plank about 8 by 4 feet, and about 10 feet long, cut from the Fir. 
He adds . It is perfectly astonishing to see the immense quantity of turpentine these trees contain. I have 
seen many instances where several gallons have escaped from a tree on its being cut down, and yet 
left the wood thoioughly impregnated. It has often occurred to my mind, that a good business may be 
established here in the manufacture of turpentine, pitch, resin, &c., by any person who understands the 
process.” 
Its great height and perfect straightness, combined with its strength, elasticity, and tenacity, peculiarly 
adapt it for masts and spars, and it is largely used for these purposes. The flag-staff at Kew, which must 
be known to most of our readers, is of this Fir. It came from Vancouver Island, and consists of a single 
piece, is 159 feet in length, 22 inches in diameter at the base, tapering to 8 inches at the summit. Its weight 
is three tons, and it contains 157 square feet of timber. The tree from which this flag-staff was made was 
250 years old, indicated by its concentric rings. As may be supposed, it was no easy task to get a pole of 
such dimensions raised into its place ; indeed, it was only after one had been sacrificed in the attempt to 
do so, that that which now stands—the second sent for the purpose—was successfully raised and fixed. 
Dr Findley gave a graphic account of the process at the time, which we feel sure the reader will excuse our 
reproducing here. It is taken from the Gardeners Chrotiicle, 1 ith May 1861 :— 
“ It is now upwards of two years since Mr Stamp imported the first shipload of spars of Abies Dottglasn into Europe. Amongst these were 
three beautiful poles, all upwards of ioo and one 168 feet long ; this Mr Stamp, on his arrival, at once offered to send to Kew, rounded, painted, and 
fitted as a flag-staff. As with many first attempts, however, misfortune dogged its course ; its length was so great that the only way of transmitting it 
to Kew was by floating it up the river, and in its transit it was struck in the middle by a river-steamer, and cut in two. Nothing daunted, Mr Stamp 
had the pieces floated back to Rotherhithe, spliced, with the loss of only 2 feet of length, and the repaired pole again sent up to Kew, where it was 
landed and brought to the foot of a commanding knoll in the Arboretum, on which it was intended to erect it. Here a well was dug for the reception of 
the butt-end, 12 feet deep, bricked all round, and well ventilated ; a derrick was rigged for hoisting the spar, under the direction of one of the most 
experienced men in such operations to be found in London, and the spar was gradually raised by a rope attached above the middle, but unfortunately 
too near the centre of gravity. The result shewed how little idea the engineer had of the magnitude of the undertaking. The spar was hoisted to 
the top of the derrick, and had no sooner resumed its erect position than a puff of wind swung it round ; after performing a majestic sweep in the 
air over the heads of the spectators, the derrick’s support gave way, and the spar came to the ground on the slope of the hill, with a tremendous 
crash, breaking into six pieces ; providentially no one was hurt, and though it fell into a grove of young trees and shrubs, not one of these was 
injured either. 
“ On being informed of this disaster, the liberal donor answered that he was going again to British Columbia, and would gladly send to Kew 
another and finer flag-staff. Well did he keep his promise, for in the course of this spring there arrived at Rotherhithe, for Kew, a second spar, fully 
40 feet longer than the first, as straight, and of much greater bulk; this, too, was landed at Kew free of all cost, and immediately transported to the 
site of its ill-fated predecessor. This noble spar measured, before cleaning and rounding, 159 feet in length, the diameter of the butt-end being 22 
inches and that of the top end 8 inches. It contained about 150 annual layers, which were close, and well defined by broad brown resinous rings. 
Immediately on its arrival, Sir William Hooker represented to the Chief Commissioner of Works the advisability of requesting the aid of the Admiralty 
in its erection, which was at once accorded by His Grace the Duke of Somerset. Ten mast-makers and riggers were despatched from Woolwich dock¬ 
yard, under the superintendence of Mr John Isaac, the able inspector of mast-makers at that yard, under whose skilful directions the operation of 
cleaning and rounding the spar, fitting it with rigging, and coating it with a composition of wax and tar, proceeded with celerity, precision, and order. 
« Meanwhile, Mr Isaac matured his plan for raising the spar, which was with him a labour of love ; such a spar for size or beauty having never 
been seen at any’of Her Majesty’s dockyards ; and that intelligent officer’s experience having taught him the wisdom of treating such enormous 
lengths of timber with due respect, he wisely devised a plan of letting it help itself into its place, instead of hoisting it up to disport itself like a 
fishing-rod in the air, as its predecessor had done. To this end he placed the spar at the foot of the hill, with its butt-end pointing to its final 
resting place. He then had a cut made through the side of the hill to its centre, in the direction in which the spar lay; the latter was then dragged 
butt-end foremost, into the cutting, and the butt strongly propped in its final position. On Thursday, the 2d of May, by means of stout ropes attached 
about the middle,’and passing through blocks on the adjoining trees, the flag-staff was slowly and steadily reared aloft from the horizontal to the 
upright position. ’ A large concourse of people had assembled to witness this somewhat nervous operation of raising a spar of such length and weight, 
that any untoward strain or sudden jerk might have caused it to snap across the middle. To guard against this, the top was steadied with ropes, and 
other precautions were adopted as the strain was felt most at one or another point in the length of the spar; and though with such admirable 
precautions not the slightest accident or contretemps appeared possible, still all the spectators felt a sense of relief when, now waving about in the 
wind during pauses in’ hoisting, then trembling like a willow-wand as its tapering top slowly approached the zenith, it finally came to its rest as 
straight as an arrow, and so perfectly erect that a plumb-line dropped from the truck cut the centre of the butt. 
In the following year (1862) a still finer, larger, and longer spar of this Fir was offered to the Royal 
Horticultural Society, for erection in their garden at South Kensington ; but doubts as to the practicability 
of getting it into the gardens, and suitably bestowing it there, prevailed, and the offer was declined. That 
spar was 220 feet in length. 
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