Now if these noble firs, instead of being scattered among trees of inferior height, were planted in close forest, so as to be drawn up with clean boles to a single leader, they would protect each other from the gale. Then might be seen something of the true character of the silver fir as it is developed in such forests as that of the Vosges, in Eastern France, where a tract fifty miles long is clad principally with this species, or in the Jura, where a forest of silver fir 10,600 acres in extent yields annually 170 cubic feet of timber per acre felled. British foresters and wood merchants set a low value on such timber as the silver fir produces in this country; and small blame to them, because, grown as we are in the habit of growing it, branchy and full of great knots, it is almost worthless; but in some districts of Europe where silver forest is well managed and felled in rotation, the deals are more sought after and command a readier market than spruce. The thinnings make excellent pitwood, and although, like spruce, the timber is not naturally durable enough for outdoor purposes, it can be made so by creosote treatment. [Illustration: SILVER FIRS (_Abies pectinata_)] The silver fir sows itself very freely in places where the ground herbage is not so rank as to choke the young plants; but to allow natural reproduction a fair chance, ground game must be rigorously excluded, for deer, hares, and rabbits seem to regard this delicacy in much the same light as human beings do asparagus. This tree--_Abies pectinata_ (I must resort to Latin to distinguish it from the other European, Asiatic, and American silvers) differs from every other member of the genus (so far as my observation goes) in being a shade-bearer; that is, it will grow under the shade and drip of deciduous trees, so dense as to be fatal to the health, and generally to the life, of every other conifer except the juniper. This renders it of almost unique utility for under-planting, the beech being its only rival for that purpose. It is true that the Douglas fir and the giant Thuja both stand a considerable amount of side shade, but the silver fir thrives under conditions of overhead drip which the others cannot suffer. One may read in books on forestry that the Norway spruce is patient of overhead shade; I can only say that, though I have sought diligently for an instance of its doing so, and have seen many thousands of spruce planted in faith of this misleading advice, I have never found a case where the attempt has succeeded. In planting silver firs it is important to take advantage of their power of bearing shade, for the young trees are very susceptible of injury by late frost, from which older and taller woodland will protect them. It is remarkable how long and patiently the young silvers so treated will wait for head-room--marking time, as it were, till the older crop is cleared away, when they will go ahead and occupy the ground.