From the boiled inner bark, mixed with rye-flour and afterwards buried for a few hours in the snow, the hardy Siberian hunters prepare a sort of leaven, with which they supply the place of common leaven when the latter is destroyetl, as it frequently is, by the intense cold to which hunters are exposed in the pursuit of game.
The bark of the Larch is nearly as valuable to the tanner as oak-bark ; it also produces the substance called Venice turpentine, which flows in abundance when the lower part of the trunk of old treen is wounded. A sort of manna; called Briancon Manna, is exuded from its leaves in the form of a white flocculent substance, which finally becomes concreted into email lumps.
It is believed that this species was the rirus of the ancient Creeks. The origin of the more modern word larl.'r i.s uncertain.
Abies microcarpa, the Red Larch Fir (Pinta microcarpa, Lam bert). Leaves clustered, deciduous. Cones oblong, small ; their scales erect, close-pressed, the upper ones much smaller than the lower. This is a graceful tree, with much of the habit of the common Larch, from which its very small cones, of a bright purple in the summer, readily distinguish it. It is a native of North America. This tree is by no means so well adapted to the planter's purposes as the common Larch, growing very much smaller. The wood is so heavy that it will scarcely swim in water.
Mies pendula, the Black Larch Fir (Pines pendula, Lambert). Leaves clustered, deciduous. Cones oblong, with numerous spreading scales, which gradually diminish from the base to the apex of the cones. Branches weak and drooping. It is a native of North America, where it is found growing in a rich clay soil, mixed with sand, in cold mountainous districts. When cultivated in this country it is an elegant tree, having a good deal of resemblance to the common Larch, but being of a brighter green colour, and much more graceful. The leading shoot will often begin to droop at the height of 15 or 20 feet from the ground, and, after gradually acquiring a horizontal direction, will bend towards the earth so as to form a natural arch of great beauty. The wood is less valuable than that of the common Larch.
Leaves growing in clusters; evergreen..
Abies CedruR, the Cedar of Lebanon Fir (Pines, Cedrus, Linnmns and Lambert). Leaves clustered, evergreen. Cones oblong, very obtuse, erect, with broad closely-packed scales, which arc a little Hay, that the indestructible cedar-wood was the beautiful, hard, deep brown timber of Thvja articulata, the Sandarac Tree. The wood of Atka cairns produces deal of very indifferent quality.
Abies lkodara, the Sacred Indian Fir (Pines Deodara, Lambert). Leaves evergreen, in clusters, acute, triangular, stiff. Cones growing in pairs, stalked, oval, obtuse, erect ; the scales closely packed, very broad, and nearly even at the margin. It is a native of the mountains of Hindustan, near the town of Rehilcund, on the mountains of Nepaul and Tibet, at a height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet, and also in the woods of Almora. It is a large tree, with a trunk about four feet in diameter, resembling the Cedar of Lebanon, from which it differs in having its cones upon stalks, and its leaves longer and more distinctly three-sided, and also in the quality of its timber.. The Hindooa are said to call it the Devadara, or God Tree, and hold it in a sort of veneration. Its wood is extremely durable, and so resinous that laths made of it are used for candles. Spars of it have been taken out of Indian temples, known to have been erected from 200 to 400 years, uninjured except in those parts which originally were sap-wood. Tbia tree has been extensively cultivated in England, and seems to be realising the favourable anticipations which were formed on its first introduction.
To the species now enumerated, the following almost unknown kinds have to be added :— Mica Kiempferi (Pines Ecempferi, Lambert). A native of Japan, found wild upon the mountains of Fako.
Abiea Thunbergii (Pines Thunbergii, Lambert). A scarce plant in Japan.
AbiesIlfomi (Siebold). Found in Japan, as well as the two following. Its wood is in great estimation for its whiteness and fine grain.
Abies Torano (Siebold).
Abies Araragi (Siebold). Wood brown; used for various domestic purposes.