This species of the fir, is one of the most useful plants in the whole vegetable creation: it furnishes us with the best red or yellow deal, which is employed in the making of masts, floors, wainscots, tables, boxes, and for numberless other purposes.—The trunk and branch of this species, in common with the rest of the pine tribe, afford excellent pitch and tar.—The tops, or young tender shoots, are an useful substitute for fodder, especially during the winter season: see vol. i. p. 460.—The roots, when divided into small splinters, are employed by the poor as a substitute for candles.—The outer bark is of considerable use in tanning leather; the inner rind is, by the inhabitants of Loch-Broom, in the county of Ross, converted into ropes. In the more northern parts of Europe, it is, in times of scarcity, made into bread: for this purpose, the inhabitants select a tree, the trunk of which is smooth, and contains the least portion of resin: they strip off the bark in the spring, dry it gently, then reduce it to powder, and knead it with a small quantity of corn meal and water, in which state it is baked into bread.—The young cones, when distilled, afford an essential diuretic oil, somewhat resembling that of turpentine: a resinous extract is likewise prepared from them, and believed to possess virtues similar to those of the balsam of Peru.—An infusion of the buds is highly recommended as an antiscorbutic.
2. The Abies, or Spruce-fir, which is a native of the northern parts ot Europe, whence it has been introduced into this country. It is propagated in the same manner as the Scotch-fir, and delights in a dry, gravelly situation, though it will thrive in almost every soil. It also succeeds on a loam, and even on a hard dry rock; but frequently decays at the end of 18 or 20 years, if planted on a stiff, wet clay. The same precautions as are to be observed in transplanting the Scotch fir, ought to be more carefully attended to with respect to the Spruce fir, which should be set exactly in the same direction in which it stood before; as, by turning the bark to another quarter of the compass, the tree generally perishes.
There are two varieties of this species, namely, the white and black spruce; the wood of both is very light, and decays when exposed to the air for a considerable length of time: it is chiefly employed for packing-cases, musical instruments, and the like. Its branches form the principal ingredient in preparing the essence of spruce, from which spruce-beer is brewed. A fine clear turpentine oozes from these trees: the Indians of North-America are said to employ it in curing green wounds, as well as certain internal disorders: the resin which distils from the White Spruce-fir, in particular, is supposed to be a sovereign remedy in fevers, and in pains of the breast and stomach. In Britain, this resinous juice is boiled in water, and strained through a linen cloth, by which process it acquires a solid consistence, a reddish brown colour, and an odour by no means disagreeable—whence it is called Burgundy pitch. In obstinate coughs, affections of the lungs, and other internal complaints, plasters of this resin, by acting as a topical stimulus, are frequently found of considerable service.
3. The picea, or Yew-leaved Fir; which is a tall ever-green,
