The uses of the Fir tree are important. The Norway Spruce Fir furnishes the white deal timber so extensively employed in Europe for all the various purposes of building; and its tall, tapering stems afford fine masts for vessels. The Black Spruce timber is also highly valuable, and is thought by many persons to surpass in excellence that of the Norway Spruce. The young shoots also enter into the composition of the celebrated Spruce beer of this country, a delightful and very healthful beverage. And the Hemlock not only furnishes a vast quantity of the joists used in building frame-houses, but supplies the tanners with an abundance of bark, which, when mixed with that of the oak, is highly esteemed in the preparation of leather.
