CHAP. CXIII.

coni'feiue. abie'tina:.

2127

of a little sand or chalk. Turpentine, in all its different forms, is extensivelyused, along with oil, in painting. Tar and pitch, with a mixture of tow, orbeaten cables, are used for paying over the seams of the sides and decks ofships after they are caulked, to preserve the oakum from any wet. Oakumis formed of untwisted old ropes, steeped in tar, and is in universal use inship-building. Lampblack is used by painters, both with water and oil; andalso by modellers, and other artists and artisans.

As ornamental objects, most of the species of the Abietinm are eminentlydeserving of culture, and they may all be said to be beautiful in every stageof their growth, from the regularity and symmetry of their forms, fromtheir foliage being evergreen, and from the lofty stature attained by most ofthe species when full grown. The resinous odour of most of the species isalso a powerful recommendation to many persons in modern times, as it wasanciently to the Greeks and Romans. The fragrance of the common spruce firis considered, in Sweden and Norway, to be particularly agreeable and refresh-ing ; and, hence, the floors of cottages are generally strewed with it in thosecountries. In the Dendrographia of Johnston, groves of pine are said to beparticularly wholesome to walk in; and every one must have felt the refresh-ing influence of such a walk in the beginning of summer, when the pines areproducing their young shoots, and the weather is warm; the resin at thattime being in a comparatively volatilised state, and floating in the atmosphere.Among the most ornamental species are, the cedar of Lebanon, the cedarof Deodar, the silver fir, the Araucaria imbricata, and the Picea Webbidaa;but all the species are ornamental in an eminent degree, when full grown, assingle objects. No species is more picturesque than even the common Scotchpine, when it has stood detached, has attained a considerable age, and hasgrown in a suitable soil and situation. Some of the commonest species, inparticular localities, and from accidental circumstances, become very singularobjects; such as the spruce fir when its branches take root at their extremities,and send up shoots which become trees ; or when, from being thrown downon its side, its branches become trees, proceeding from the parent trunk.The same species also affords a curious monstrosity (A'bies excelsa Clanbra-si liana), which, when propagated, becomes a bush, seldom seen above 3 ft. or4ft. high. The silver fir and the cedar of Lebanon, and also the larch, oftenform branchy heads, which, from such heads rarely occurring in needle-leaved trees, have a very singular appearance.

Soil and Situation. The debris of granitic rock may be considered as theuniversal soil of the pine and fir tribe, and a dry subsoil an essential conditionfor their prosperity; but they will grow on all soils whatever, that are notsurcharged with water. The roots of all the Abietinae run immediately underthe surface, and hence do not require a deep soil; and, as their needle-likeleaves do not carry off much moisture by evaporation, the soil in which theAbietinae will grow to a large size may be drier than that required for anyother kind of tree. In pine and fir forests, or extensive groves, the leavesand decaying fronds of the trees drop on the surface of the ground, and notonly retain moisture in the soil, by forming, from the much longer time whichthey require to decay, a non-conducting stratum of greater thickness than isever found in groves of broad-leaved trees, but they supply a layer of vegetablefood to the roots. When the trees stand singly, or in scattered groups, theirfronds or branches, being fully exposed to the light and air, do not decay soreadily as they do when grown in thick masses, from which the air is in agreat measure excluded; and, consequently, so much manure is not suppliedby them : but, on the other hand, as in this case they cover the ground so as toexclude in a great measure the sun and air, evaporation is prevented, while,from the greater range which the roots have on every side, abundance ofnourishment is supplied. Nevertheless, a soil somewhat loamy, and a coolsubsoil, are necessary to bring the timber of the pine to its greatest degree ofperfection; and various species, particularly those belonging to the genusPicea, require a loam rather rich than poor, and a situation low rather than

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