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ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

2242

the nurseries, and is frequent in ornamental planta-tions. The wood is but little employed in America,on account of its deficiency in size and strength;but it is sometimes used for the staves of casks forpacking fish. The sap is extracted by means ofincisions in the body of the tree, or collected from_ the exudations which take place on its bark, in theSsSS same manner as is done with that of the silver fir.It is sold, in the United States and in England,under the name of balm of Gilead, or Canadabalsam ; and, combined with spirits, Sir J. E. Smithobserves, it makes a not unpleasant dram. The fresh turpentine is, how-ever, acrid and inflammatory, and, applied to wounds, causes heat andacute pain, though it is considered of great efficacy in certain stages of con-sumption. It is a greenish transparent fluid, with a very penetrating taste.The true balm of Gilead is produced by the Zmyris gileadensis. Thelargest of the specimens of the balm of Gilead fir in the neighbourhood ofLondon are at Syon, Whitton, and Chiswick Villa, where it is from 30 ft.to 40 ft. high. The tree in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, which, in1837, had been 10 years planted, was 10 ft. high, and had produced cones.Throughout the country, there are numerous trees from 25 ft. to 30 ft. high.Price of seeds, in London, 2s. 6 d. per oz.: plants, two-years’ seedlings, 10s.per 1000; transplanted plants, 8 in. high, 40s. per 1000. At Bollwyller,plants are from 1 to 2 francs each ; and at New York, plants 4 ft. high are75 cents each.

t 4. P. (b.) Fra'ser/ Pursh. Fraser’s, or the double Balsam, Silver Fir.

Synonymcs. Pinus Fraser/ Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 639., Lamb. Pin., ed. 2., 1. t. 42. ; <4’bieiFraser?' Lindl. in Penny Cyc., No. 5.

engravings. JLamn. nn.,ed. a., i.t. 42. j and our Jigs. 2243, 2244.

oec. Char., Sfc. Leaveslinear, emarginate, silverybeneath. Cones oblong,

squarrose. Bracteoles somewhat leafy, obcordate, mucronate, half exserted,reflexed. (Don in Lamb. Pin.) This tree so closely resembles the pre-ceding kind, that it is unnecessary to describe it. It is not noticed byMichaux ; but Pursh found it on high mountains in Carolina, resembling,.he says, P. balsiimea in several respects, but differing, at first sight, in beinga smaller tree, the leaves shorter and more erect, and the cones not onefourth the size. It was introduced into England by Mr. Fraser, in 1811;and the original tree is in the Hammersmith Nursery, where, in 1837, itwas 15 ft. high, and had, for two or three years, produced cones, but no malecatkins. This last circumstance has given rise to the idea that the maleand female are produced by different trees, which is exceedingly improbable.There are two plants in the Horticultural Society’s Garden : one, consideredthe male, in 1837, after being 3 years planted, was 2 ft. high; and the other,