2300

ARBORETUM AND ERUTICETUM.

PART HI.

roots. In both examples, the originaltops had decayed close to the uppermostarborescent branch; no doubt, in con-sequence of their not being able to turnupright : notwithstanding, however, theextremities of both have a tendency to-wards the upright position.” (Gard.

Mag., vol. xiii. p. 249.)

Geography. The common spruce isindigenous to the hills and mountainsof Europe and Asia , in places wherethe surface of the soil is moist, andthe atmosphere cold and humid. It ismost common in Norway , Sweden , Lap-land, Denmark , and throughout thenorth of Germany . It is found onmountains in France , on the Alps, thePyrenees , in the Vosges , in Burgundy,on the Jura , in Switzerland , and in Bel­ gium . According to Pallas, it aboundsin the north of Russia , and in Siberia ;occupying cold, marshy, and springyplaces, and the valleys between moun-tains. Beyond the Lena, and in Kamt-schatka, it is wanting; but it frequentlyoccurs in the Kurile Isles. In the northof Russia and Siberia , it reaches to the arctic circle, and in some placesbeyond it; and in the north of Sweden and Lapland , as far as N. lat.69°. It grows on the Swedish mountains at the elevation of 2000 ft.,where P. sylvestris , according to Dr. Agardh ( Gard. Mag., vol. xii. p. 63.), isfound principally in the plains. On the Lapland mountains, it grows at theheight of 1000 ft. The spruce, in Norway , according to Schouw, extends toN. lat. 70 °, and there grows at an elevation of 750 ft. In the south of Norway ,it grows at the height of 3000 ft. The order of hardiness of the Scandinavian trees, according to Schouw, is : 1. the birch, which grows nearest the summitsof the mountains; 2. the spruce fir; and, 3. the Scotch pine. The supe-rior hardiness of the spruce to any other trees of the pine and fir tribe isthus established beyond a doubt. (See Gard. Mag., vol. xii. p. 60.) Thesoil in which the spruce fir is generally found differs from that in whichthe Scotch pine abounds, in being softer and moister on the surface.Among dry rocks and stones, where the Scotch pine would flourish, thespruce fir will scarcely grow. The spruce fir, on the Alps of Switzerland,is frequently found above 150 ft. in height, with trunks from 4 ft. to 5 ft.in diameter, growing in moist soil in mountain valleys; and the timber ofthese trees is hard, tough, and very durable. The finest forests of thistree which we have seen are on the southern shores of the Baltic, betweenMemel and Konigsberg , where the surface consists of a thin stratum of blackpeaty soil, incumbent on a bed of sand, and the whole of which is underwater a great part of every winter. We have also seen the tree making afine appearance on rocky banks in different parts of Sweden ; but scarcelyanywhere in that country is it to be found in situations so grand and pic-turesque as it is in Norway .

In the year 1817, and subsequent!}', a great many views in Norway weretaken by James White, Esq., all of which he has kindly lent to us; and,from these we have made a selection to show the effect of the spruce fir,the Scotch pine, and, as connected with them, the common birch, in land-scape scenery.

Pig. 2219. is a view of the Pass of Kroglevin, on the road to Ringerike,