Spruce weaving baskets and for sewing together pieces of birch bark for canoes. See also Kiidk'yaas for an unusual golden Sitka Spruce sacred to the Haida people. Spruces are popular ornamental trees in horticulture, admired for their evergreen, symmetrical narrow-conic growth habit. For the same reason, some (particularly "Picea abies" and "P. omorika") are also extensively used as Christmas trees, with artificial Christmas trees often being produced in their likenesses. Spruce branches are also used at Aintree racecourse, Liverpool, to build several of the fences on the Grand National course. It is also used to make sculptures. The closely related species
1870 Grand National 1870 Grand National The 1870 Grand National was the 32nd renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 9 March 1870. This was the fifth and final time George Stevens rode the winner in the Grand National. In a publicity stunt before this year's race, an athlete by the name of Tom Scott jumped a circuit of the course without the assistance of a horse. At this time the course was still not fully laid to turf and some of the obstacles were still natural hedges and banks making this a