than in that above it, and their fruit is ripe a month later, making a difference of two months. Thus, in
Dr Hooker's lowest zone (8000 to 9000 feet) Rhododendron argenteum flowers in April, and has not its
fruit ripe until December, thus taking nine months to ripen its fruit. In the second zone (11,000 to 12,000
feet), R. campanulatum flowers in May and fruits in November, thus taking seven months to ripen its fruit.
In the third zone (13,000 to 14,000 feet), R. anthopogon flowers in June and fruits in October, thus
taking five months to ripen its fruit. In the fourth zone (16,000 to 18,000 feet), R. nivale, the curious little
species, which probably attains a loftier elevation than any other plant in the world, flowers in July and
fruits in September, thus taking three months to ripen its fruit. And the necessity for some arrangement
of this sort is obvious. If R. nivale were to take as long to ripen its seed as R. argenteum, the winter
would be upon it before it had well begun to think about it. A similar rapidity in the ripening of the
seeds also takes place in the arctic regions.
We have thus the same phenomenon occurring as the degrees of latitude and zones of elevation
increase, and we must look for its origin in some common cause. De Candolle's hypothesis, that the
longer duration of light which characterizes more northerly regions may be the cause to which the distribution
of the species (another of the common phenomena) is due, will not answer, for it is plain that the
long duration of light in the summer which applies to Lapland does not to the Himmalayas. Some other
cause must therefore be sought for to explain the phenomenon. Doubtless more than one element combines
to produce it, but that summer heat is a much more important element than winter cold—i.e., want
of heat in winter—is abundantly proved.
There are other points relating to the present distribution of the Spruce which require explanation.
M. De Candolle also considers these. He satisfactorily shews that the degree of cold has nothing to do
with its absence from Britain, Denmark, and the eastern plains of Germany, for greater cold than occurs
there is habitual in the north of Sweden, where it thrives. Neither can humidity be the reason, for Bergen
and other localities receive more rain than the eastern coast of England. Level ground, where the water
stagnates for a part of the year, does not agree with the species; and, according to De Candolle, that is
the reason perhaps which excludes it from the great plains of the north-west of Germany and from Denmark,
and which at the same time accounts for its living on the slopes of the mountains of Norway, where,
although there is plenty of water, it is not stagnant. "In resumé" says he, " the cold of the winter excludes
the Abies excelsa from the north of Russia and of Sweden, the want of heat from northern Norway, but it
is not an actual physical cause which excludes it from the British Islands: it is antient cause, or an aggregate
of antient causes, mounting back perhaps to an epoch anterior to the presence of man in Europe."
(De Candolle, op. cit., p. 194.)
The causes suggested by M. De Candolle combined with others may have assisted in producing its
present partial distribution; but they cannot be regarded as furnishing in themselves a sufficient explanation,
because, as in Britain, it grows perfectly well in Denmark, Netherlands, and north-west Germany
wherever it has been planted, which it sometimes has been in great quantities.
History.—The Spruce Fir is frequently mentioned by antient authors. Virgil speaks of it, with
allusions to its height and sombre colouring. Pliny mentions it as used in the funeral ceremonies of the
Romans, and specifies the resin as scarcely distinguishable from incense.
It is assumed to have been introduced into Britain before 1548, because Turner includes it in his
" Names of Herbes;" and both Gerard and Parkinson speak of its being found in great quantities in
different parts of the island ; and that they mean the Spruce is plain from the figures they give, which
are very fair representations of it At whatever period it may have been introduced, it has been for long
a favourite tree with planters. Consequently many fine specimens arc to be found in Britain.
Doubtless, it was not long after its introduction into England that it found its way into Scotland;
but the first aCtual notice which we can find of its having been planted there is a statement in Dr Walker's
Essays that it had been planted at Inveraray in 1682. It was not, however, until the beginning of the
present
present century that it was much planted. Its value as a nurse was about that time urged by Mr
Adam and some other arboriculturists, which had the efieCt of bringing it into favour; and ever
since it has been largely planted, not in great masses, as is sometimes done on the Continent,
but interspersed among other trees, to serve as a nurse or for shelter.
For many centuries Sweden, Norway, and the shores of the Baltic have been the storehouse
of timber to the rest of Europe; and with each successive year the quantity supplied by them has
gone on increasing, until, at last, serious fears begin to be entertained that the annual consumption
is greater than the forests can supply without encroaching on the stock of future years. While Norway
only exported 22,000 lasts in 1797, she exported 403,566 in 1864; and the exports of Sweden have
increased in as great a proportion. The scantling of the wood exported is diminishing, a greater
quantity of smaller dimensions taking the place of larger timber; posts such as are met with in the
older houses are not now to be seen, and the authorities are stirring themselves to enforce more
stringently the laws which exist against the proprietor's abuse of his right to cut down his timber.
Laws constraining the private individual's right to do what he will with his own in this matter have
long existed in Sweden ; the dependence of the whole people on their forests for fuel having early
shewn, not only their governors but the people themselves, the necessity of a regulated expenditure of this
all-important commodity.
Properties and Uses.—The timber of the Spruce is that known in the trade as " white deal,"
in contradistinction to " red deal," which is the wood of the Scots Fir; and it receives a further
denomination from the places whence it comes, as " Christiana white deal," " Drani white deal," &c.,
some of which, as the Christiana white deal, have acquired a reputation for quality superior to that of others.
It is exported in various forms, according to the purposes for which it is intended. Entire trees,
of good size, merely barked, and with a little of the sapwood taken off, are exported for masts and
spars. Entire trees of smaller size, again, are exported for poles. These are the younger trees which
have been drawn up by growing close together, or near old ones. Squared planks of various length,
breadth, and thickness, according to the size of the trees, are what are called " deals" and " battens."
Deals are the larger of the two. They run about 12 feet long by 3 to 2', inches thick, and 7 to 9 inches
wide. Battens, again, are from 2 to 7 inches wide, and from i to il inches thick. In mercantile transactions
120 deals are reckoned as 100, and 120 deals of the larger size, 1 2 x 9 x 3 , are equal to
loads, and of the smaller size, 12 x 9 x 2!, to 4! loads. Of the latter size 38 deals make a ton, and two
tons make a last.
It is very durable, being among Conifers in this respeCt, according to Loudon, next the Larch ;
a statement which, however, we think must be taken with a qualification dependent on the rate
and place of growth of the individual trees. A slow-grown Scotch Fir from a Highland hill, would,
we imagine, be found more durable than a rapid-grown Spruce from an English meadow. When
grown upon a dry soil the wood is brittle and short-grained, but when grown on a dampish soil it is
quite of an opposite character. Disregarding exceptional cases, however, its durability and tenacity
make it excellently suited for palings and rough purposes; and leaving the bark on makes it
last longer. On a comparison of the durability of the Spruce and the Scots Fir which have been used for
rails, paling, fences, and gate-posts at thirty years old, the Spruce Fir has been found to last two or three
years longer than the Scots.
Experiments have been made as to the value of the wood for fuel as compared with that of
other trees, and it has been found that, in comparison with the Beech, its value is as 1079 to 1540, and
its charcoal as 1176 to 1500. In comparison with the Silver Fir, again, it has been found that, both as
to fuel and charcoal, it is superior—as to fuel as 1211 to 1079, and as to charcoal as 1176 to 1127.
The weight of the wood is given in Loudon's " Arboretum" (on the authority of Hartig), as
64 lb. 11 oz. per cubic foot when green, 49 lb. 5 oz. when half dry, and 3 5 lb. 2 oz. when quite dry. and
1 2 4 ] 1 it