This tree is found as far north as Hudson's Bay, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It thrives best in cold places, and is found near the top and on the slopes of some of our highest mountain-ranges. It is of a coarse texture and not very durable, but is much more serviceable than the white pine, as it is stronger and gives a better hold to nails, screws, etc. As its cost of manufacture and transportation is as great as that of white pine, and its market value less, it is not likely to be much used while pine is abundant.

There is one peculiarity about the grain of the hemlock, and that is, in ascending three or four feet it makes a complete turn round the tree, just the same as the rifling of a gun-barrel.

It is one of the most beautiful of the evergreen trees, and is cultivated on that account. It is much used for the studding of houses, in-door work, or work of any description that is kept from exposure to the weather. The only way to transplant it successfully is to keep it two or three years in the nursery and tend it carefully. I do not recommend the hemlock for cultivation, as there are so many more valuable and better timber trees; for instance, the white, Scotch, and red pines.