the Fir-tree, a genus of evergreens; the characters. characters of which are, There are male and female flowers on the same tree; the male flowers have emblems of four leaves without petals, many stamens, and naked stamens. The female flowers are collected in a scaly cone, each scale covering two flowers having neither petals or stamens, with one point, and are each succeeded by a winged nut. The distinguishing character of this genus is the leaves arising singly from their base; whereas the Pines have two or more arising from the same point.

The Fir has always been separated from the Pines by all writers on botany before Dr Linnaeus; and were generally distinguished therefrom, by their leaves being produced singly on the branches; the leaves of the Pines being produced by pairs, threes, or fives, out of sheaths which surround their base. And as this distinction is now well known among the nursery-gardeners, it is much better to keep them separate, than to join them, with the cedar of Lebanon and larch-tree, to the Pine, as the doctor has done, making them of one genus; especially as the culture of them is very different. See Pinus.

The following species are now in the British gardens.

1. Picea, or the silver or yew-leaved fir, grows naturally in many parts of Germany, but the finest trees of this sort are growing upon mount Olympus. The Strathburgh turpentine is drawn from this tree. The wood is white and soft, and therefore not greatly esteemed.

2. Alba, or the spruce or Norway fir, sometimes called the pitch-tree, grows naturally on the low lands of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, or the mountains of Scotland; as also in many other parts of Europe. The wood is very light, white, rots in the air, and crackles in the fire. It is used for making musical instruments, packing-boxes, &c. The Laplanders make ropes of the roots, and employ them for fastening together the thin planks of their portable canoes. The inhabitants of Canada prepare a pleasant and wholesome liquor from the leaves.

3. Balsamea, or the balm-of-Gilead fir, so nearly resembles the picea, as scarcely to be distinguished from it after it is grown to a large size.

4. Canadensis, or the small-coned American spruce fir, grows naturally in many parts of North America, from whence the cones have been brought to England. The leaves are shorter than those of the spruce fir, but like them in shape; the cones are loose, and about an inch in length.

5. The Newfoundland spruce, is a native of Newfoundland and several other parts of North America; where the inhabitants make three sorts of it, by the titles of Black, White, and Red Spruce.

6. Americana, or the American hemlock fir, is also a native of the same country; and in the northern parts grows to be a very large tree; but in Britain the branches spread wide every way, so that there is no appearance of the trees ever arriving to any considerable height.

The leaves are short, and shaped very like those of the yew-tree; they are ranged on two sides of the branches only; so they appear flat, like those of the silver fir; but are of a pale green on both sides. The cones are small, loose, and roundish. From most of these firs, the inhabitants of North America collect a clear fragrant turpentine, which they use for curing green wounds; and the physicians there make great use of it internally.

All the sorts of fir are propagated by seeds. The time for sowing them is about the middle of March, when the season is mild; otherwise it had better be deferred till the end of that month, or the beginning of April. The seeds which are preserved in their cones, will keep good much longer than those which are taken out; but the cones of the silver and balm-of-Gilead firs generally fall to pieces in the autumn, soon after the seeds are ripe; so that if they are not carefully watched, and gathered at that time, the seeds will be lost. The cones of all the sorts of fir open with more ease than those of the pines, and require but little trouble to get out their seeds. If they are spread on a cloth before a fire for a few hours, their scales will open and emit the seeds. They may be sown in pots or boxes filled with light fresh earth, and covered over about half an inch thick with the same earth; they should be placed in an east aspect, where they may have the sun till eleven in the morning. Or if the seeds are sown in a bed of earth, it should be shaded with mats in the middle of the day; for when they are too much exposed to the sun, the surface of the ground will dry so fast (especially in dry seasons) as to hinder the seeds from vegetating; and when the plants begin to appear, if they are not screened from the sun, many of them will be soon destroyed. The seeds must be carefully guarded against mice and birds, who are very fond of them, but particularly when the plants begin to appear; for as they thrust up the cover of the seeds on their top, the birds, in pecking off these covers, destroy the young plants; therefore the surest method is to cover them with nets until the plants have thrown off their husks and expanded their seed-leaves, soon after which they will be out of danger. After the plants have remained in the seed-bed one year, they may be transplanted into beds in rows at five or six inches distance, and the plants in the rows four inches asunder. They must be carefully weeded; and, if the season proves very dry, it will be of service gently to sprinkle them over with water once or twice a-week during the hot time of the year. When they have grown two years in these beds, they may then be transplanted into the nursery, placing them in rows at three feet distance, and in the rows a foot asunder. The best season for removing them is in April, just before they begin to shoot. The smaller these trees are planted out where they are to remain, the greater will be their progress, and they will grow to a much larger size than those that are removed at a much greater age.—The wood of all the sorts of fir yet known, being much inferior to that of the Pine*, it is not common* See Pinus to make plantations of them for their timber, but to cultivate them in pleasure-grounds for ornament. With this view, they should be placed so far asunder as to admit the free air between them; otherwise the lower branches will decay, and render the trees unightly. The great beauty of these trees is their pyramidal form, and their being furnished with lateral branches from about seven feet above the surface of the ground to the top. These branches should be well garnished with leaves: to obtain which, the trees should not be planted nearer than 18 or 20 feet; for when they are closer planted, the under branches soon drop their leaves, and totally decay. The unskillful disposition of these trees has brought them into disrepute with many persons; whereas, if properly placed, they may be made ABI made very ornamental to fine seats.—In pruning off the under branches to the designed height, there must be care taken not to cut off too many at the same time; one tier being enough to be displaced in a year. The best time for this operation is in the beginning of September.—The American spruce-firs, planted in light moist ground, grow to a large size, and make a beautiful appearance; and if they are allowed room for their lower branches to spread and extend, they will be garnished with them almost to the ground, forming themselves in a pyramidal figure.—For the medical uses of certain species of the Abies, see Materia Medica, no. 61.