The _Coniferæ_ (Cone-bearers).—The Fir tribe may well form a subject even for a separate volume, for not only are some of them employed as timber trees, but many are grown for their curious and interesting structure. The _Pinetum_ has become to be a matter of amusement to many a country gentleman throughout the country; and in these are collected such new forms as may in time become useful to the planter, as well as such minute species as may illustrate the natural history of a subject well worthy of extended study. Amongst our giants of this natural order may be placed the yew (which has been made a separate order under the name of _Taxaceæ_) and the cedar; the spruce-fir, Scotch-pine, and larch being the more useful members as timber trees. The Yew (_Taxus baccata_) is generally considered as an indigenous tree, and as we can certainly point to individuals that must have weathered nearly, if not quite a thousand years, we are not disposed to quarrel with the conclusion. Its former use in the construction of the English long-bow is now obsolete, and so too has almost died out the taste for growing this tree to torture into grotesque shapes. Still, as a picturesque tree in woodland and home scenery, and even as an attendant upon the parish church, we should like to see the yew more extensively grown. It is also a most useful tree for close hedges and blinds in the garden, as it will bear being clipped within due bounds with a great amount of patience. The Cedar (_Cedrus Libani_), which was probably introduced to this country towards the end of the seventeenth century, has yet made such progress as to rival in size and importance many of our more stately native timber trees of far greater age. Amongst the more stately examples of this tree, we may mention those at the Chelsea Botanical Garden. There are some fine groups in Oakley Park, Cirencester, growing on almost a bare rock of the Great or Bath Oolite, and in the bleak Cotteswold country, attaining the circumference of from 10 to 12 feet, at three feet from the ground. Long may the cedar be cultivated for the size and beauty to which it can attain, in which, perhaps, it may yet be excelled by the _Cedrus deodara_, not many years since introduced from the Himalayas. We rejoice to see such noble specimens of vegetation grown, independent of profit, which, indeed, is scarcely needed by a princely possessor of a fine estate handed down, perhaps, from generation to generation, in which each tree may have a history of its own. The Spruce-Fir (_Abies excelsa_) is an elegant tree in composition, and grows well on the thinnest and poorest soils. Its upright, tapering mode of growth renders it a good nurse, with beech, larch, and other _Coniferæ_. It may be planted thickly; the first thinning being used for hop-poles, the next for spars, masts, &c.; and ultimately a few may be left to attain size and height as shelter and for effect.