The Norway Spruce is very favorably known in this part of the country as
an ornamental tree. It is described by European writers as the tallest
tree of the European forest, except the silver fir. In this country no
trees of this species have attained any great altitude, having been all
planted within a space of fifty years. Occasionally we behold a solitary
individual that may have attained about half of its possible height, but
the most do not exceed twenty or thirty feet. In certain situations no
man could help admiring the beauty and majesty of these trees, when, for
example, they border an extensive field, dividing it, as it were, from
the roadside, as may be seen on the southern borders of the Observatory
ground in Cambridge. But as a boundary for a garden or enclosure the
trees of all this family are too gloomy. The Norway Spruce would be more
valuable to plant for its timber than our native species, because it is
more rapid in its growth and would produce a greater length of shaft in
a given number of years. But the two American spruces are more beautiful
trees, as would be apparent to any one who should compare them when
growing together.