Red fir

“ The Balsam Fir is a tree fifty to eighty feet high, growing from Virginia northward. Canada balsam is made from the sap. The White Fir or Great Silver Fir is a large tree, often three hundred feet high and ten feet in diameter, growing from British Columbia to lower California. The wood is soft and extensively used for cooperage and boxes. The Red Fir is a large tree one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, found in the same regions as the white fir. It is often planted in Europe as an ornamental tree. The Mexican Fir is a magnificent silver-leaved tree one hundred and fifty feet high. ”

“ Old trees are protected by hard, dark-colored bark five or six inches thick. A forest fire may pass through a stand of old firs without burning through the bark, but young trees are not so protected, and are liable to be killed.
A study of the wood of the red fir reveals rather more favorable qualities than the other firs afford. Sap and heartwood are more easily distinguished than in the other species, the sapwood being much lighter in color than the reddish heart. ”

“ Red Fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) (Oregon Pine, Puget Sound Pine, Yellow Fir, Douglas Spruce, Red Pine) . Heartwood light red or yellow in color, sapwood narrow, nearly white, comparatively free from resins, variable annual rings. Wood usually hard, strong, difficult to work, durable, splinters easily. Used for heavy construction, dimension timber, railway ties, doors, blinds, interior finish, piles, etc. ”

“ There is a tendency in the fir-growing regions of the West to call all firs either white or red, depending upon the color of the heartwood. There are ten or more species of fir west of the Rocky Mountains, and to the layman they all look much alike, but to botanists they are interesting objects of study. ”

“ Man's constant need of timber is abundantly met in these forests. The Douglas or red fir, a tough dense wood, attains a great size, and prevails almost universally. The red cedar, hemlock, spruce, white pine, balsam pine, and other useful conifers, are plentiful ”

“ The redwood, Fig. 53, occupies a belt some twenty miles wide along the coast from southern Oregon to a point not far north of San Francisco and grows even taller than the famous big trees. The big trees are the largest known trees in diameter, occasionally reaching in that measurement 35 feet.
Fig. 52. Virgin Forest of Red Fir, Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, and Oregon Maple. Ashford, Washington. U. S. Forest Service.
Fig. 53. Redwood Forest. Santa Cruz Co., Calif. U. S. Forest Service. ”

“ This fir differs from balsam fir in its choice of situation. The latter, though not exactly a swamp tree, prefers damp ground, while Fraser fir flourishes on slopes and mountain tops.
On the mountains of western North Carolina fir grows in mixture with red spruce. Sometimes the fir is fifty per cent of the stand, but usually it is less, and frequently not more than fifteen per cent. Few fir trees in that locality are two feet in diameter. They grow with fair rapidity in their early years, but decline in rate as age comes on. ”

“ EVEN-AGED FORESTS On the other hand, trees extremely intolerant of shade occur only in what the forester calls even-aged forests. Being unable to start in the darkness of an existing stand of any considerable density, they must seize opportunities to recover openings. The Douglas fir of the Northwest, more commonly called red or yellow fir, is an excellent illustration. In the interior states this species reproduces under cover to some extent, because there is a stronger light average throughout the year and because the stand is not so dense. ”

“ At sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tang of fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green; and the man who glided on under the great trees seemed to blend with the colors and, disappearing, to have become a part of the wild woodland. ”

“ On the left, the self-sown firs grow in close ranks. The ground below them is bare but for tussocks of coarse grass and ruddy beds of fallen fir needles. On the right, the fir wood is broken by coppices of silver-stemmed birches, and spaces of heather—that shows a purple-brown against the gray of the reindeer moss out of which it springs. ”

“ Our red-wood pine, when come to some age, is in wet ground attacked by rot, which commences in the bulb and adjacent roots and stem, in a manner very similar to the rot in larch. The red-wood also approaches nearer to the outside where this rot exists, and on the side of the tree where the rot is greatest. Most of our planted red pine forest, especially in poor wet tills, and in all flat sandy moorish ground of close subsoil, fall by decay at from 30 to 60 years old. ”

“ Their mother pierced a hole in a brown bud last autumn and laid her eggs there; then when the buds burst in spring the lower leaves grew fast together and made this comfortable house, and those green tusks you see are the leaf points.
But what is the other kind of fir that grows in our wood? It is rather like the spruce in shape, but it is not quite so stiff and prim and proper, and underneath each little leaf there are two silver lines, and so we call this the silver fir. You may always know it from the spruce by these silver lines. ”

“ In none other does it appear to change, and even then it casts not off the old—it only puts on the new in tenderer and fresher beauty! The new growth of the spruce and fir, the pale yellowish-green tips set in the dark old background, are exquisitely lovely; nor are the light green shoots of the white, yellow, and pitch pine much, less beautiful. ”

“ The redwood comes down to the sea on the western slopes of the Coast Range, from southern Oregon to Monterey County in California, tempting the lumberman by the wonderful wealth and accessibility of these groves of giant trees. The wood is soft, satiny, red, like the thick, fibrous, furrowed bark that clothes the tall, fluted trunks. ”

“ The handsomest of our pitch pines is the red pine, whose dark green leaves are six inches long, and cluster in twos upon the twigs. The bark, the wood, and the bud scales are all red. The cones are from one to three inches long, with thickened scales which have no spines. The tree grows into a broad pyramid, branched to the ground, with stout twigs, and luxuriant foliage. The symmetry and vigour of growth makes this red pine a handsomer tree than the ragged, discouraged-looking pitch pines. It is well for the landscape that its wood is very disappointing. ”

“ The people of Ida say that the fir is liable to a kind of disease;—when not only the heart but the outer part of the trunk becomes glutted [26] with pitch, the tree then is as it were choked. This happens of its own accord through the excessive luxuriance of the tree, as one may conjecture for it all turns into pitch-glutted wood. This then is an affection peculiar to the fir.
[27] The silver-fir is either 'male' or 'female,' and has differences in its leaves [28] ; those of the 'male' are sharper more needle-like and more bent; wherefore the whole tree has a more compact appearance. ”

“ But in cultivation the red pine holds its own for its quick growth, its hardiness, its lusty vigor and its beauty of color contrasts. It grows on sterile ground exposed to the sea, forming groves of great beauty where other pines would languish and die. For shelter belts, inland, it is equally dependable, and as specimen trees in parks and gardens it has few equals. At no season of the year does it lose its fresh look of health. Young trees come readily from seed, and throughout their lives they are unusually free from injuries by insects and fungi. ”

“ Cracks sometimes develop in the trunk, extending up and down many feet. Unless the logs are carefully sawed, a considerable loss occurs where these cracks cross the boards. Trunks are occasionally bored by worms, as all other oaks may be.
Red oak grows rapidly. It will produce small sawlogs in the lifetime of a man. It is a favorite tree for crossties, and railroads have made large plantings for that purpose. ”

“ Fir wood resembles spruce in appearance and in structural qualities. It may be told from spruce as well as from pine and larch by the fact that fir has no resin-ducts. The balsam fir is distinguishable by clear liquid resin which appears in blisters in the bark. The coarse, weak wood is cleaner than the bark would indicate. Spruce and fir woods are often confused in the United States, while pine, spruce, and fir are similarly confounded in Europe. ”

“ The American red-bud is a joy in the spring about dogwood time, for it is all bloom, and of a most striking [Pg 203] color. Deep pink, or purplish light red, or clear bright magenta—all these color names fit it approximately only. One is conscious of a warm glow in looking toward the little trees, with every branch clear down to the main stem not only outlined but covered with richest color. ”

“ These trees are first cousins; they often dwell together in our woods; they are evergreen; they have narrow, pointed leaves; and they bear cones, and so we often call them all firs, as if they were brothers. This may satisfy strangers and passers-by who only turn their heads and say: “Ah! a fir wood,” but it will not be sufficient for the friends of the trees. Pines and firs are as different as oaks and beeches; and who would not be ashamed to take a beech for an oak!
A fir is the shape of a church steeple or a spear-head about to cleave the sky. ”

“ The oaks are more tenacious of their leaves than any other deciduous tree, though they are fairly early in showing autumn tints. Long after the reds of other trees of the wood are buried in the brown drifts that cover the roots from the too fierce frosts of winter the rich deep crimsons and red-browns of the oak remain. ”

“ This last variety has leaves, not very abundant,—which resemble a sprig of young fir, and is sometimes called "ground-fir." It is of a deep rich green color, but not so graceful for trimming as the other kind. Besides the creeping green, there are many varieties of what children call "tree-green," independent little plants rooted deep in the mould, which send up a single stalk about eight inches high. Some of these are such perfect little trees as to appear diminutive copies of the firs and pines towering far above them, and are called "fir club-moss." ”

“ Some great ones lift their red backs high above the woods, in the next town, like huge roses with a myriad of fine petals; and some more slender ones, in a small grove of White Pines on Pine Hill in the east, on the very verge of the horizon, alternating with the Pines on the edge of the grove, and shouldering them with their red coats, look like soldiers in red amid hunters in green. This time it is Lincoln green, too. Till the sun got low, I did not believe that there were so many redcoats in the forest army. ”

“ In some instances, where the soil is fertile and climate favorable, the yellow oak produces a large, clear trunk, with sound wood, of good color, and equal to that of red oak; but the reverse is often the case—trunks are small and rough, wood hard and brittle, color not satisfactory, and strength not up to standard. Sometimes first class yellow oak passes without question as good red oak in the finish and furniture business, but that is not its usual course. Well developed wood is heavy, hard, strong, bright brown, tinged with red, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. ”

“ RED ILLUSIONS UNDER GLASS Life as green illusion - the cool fronds of the fern are deep set in firmest soil and the grassy narrows brook a silent, liquid play. Red illusions under glass - quietly picking strawberries where a woman hums to the buzz of flies with the afternoon sun disappearing overhead. Each grasp of the berry a red stain, the darting of seeds, crimson tendrils do confuse the eye with a polka dot starling raucous in glee above. ”

“ The tall gold-colored red-oaks make masses of strong color; and later, when we think the shimmering of the fairy rainbow is fading, the white oaks come out in a mist of pale carnation—pink and gray and cream.
In June, after all the hardwoods have merged into uniform light green, firs and spruces become jeweled at every point with tips of light, the new growth for the year. Red pines and white pines are set all over with candelabra of lighter green, until high on the tops of the seeding white pines little clusters of finger-slender pale green cones begin to show. ”

“ Everybody who has seen or used a black-lead pencil must know what the wood of the red cedar is like—for it is in this the black-lead is usually incased. In all parts of America, where this tree grows in plenty, it is employed for posts and fence-rails, as it is one of the most durable woods in existence. It is a great favourite also for kindling fires, as it catches quickly, and blazes up in a few seconds, so as to ignite the heavier logs of other timbers, such as the oak and the pine. ”

“ Fig. 62.—Leaf and Fruit of Red Oak.
Enemies: Like most of the other oaks, this species is comparatively free from insects and disease.
Value for planting: The red oak grows faster and adapts itself better to poor soil conditions than any of the other oaks and is therefore easy to plant and easy to find in the nurseries. It makes an excellent street tree, is equally desirable for the lawn and is hardly surpassed for woodland planting.
Commercial value: The wood is hard and strong but coarse grained, and is used for construction timber, interior finish and furniture. ”

“ A more woody species than the common elder, whose stems are so green it is scarcely like a true shrub, is the very beautiful RED-BERRIED or MOUNTAIN ELDER (S. pubens) , found in rocky places, especially in uplands and high altitudes, from the British Possessions north of us to Georgia on the Atlantic Coast, and to California on the Pacific. Coming into bloom in April or May, it produces numerous flower clusters which are longer than broad, pyramidal rather than flat-topped. They turn brown when drying. In young twigs the pith is reddish-brown, not white as in the common elder. ”