896 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



BARK Ul- LONGLEAF PINE 



The bark is thin and orange-brown, separating on the surface 

 into large papery scales which lie flat against the trunk. 



have a hard and often unsuccessful struggle to live. 



While it mav l:>e onlv se\en inches high at seven years 



of age, its tap root may l.ie all of se\en feet long, and 



when the tree is full grown this tap root is often si.xteen 



feet long. After reaching seven years of age, the tree 

 grows rapidly until it is sixty or seventy years old, when 

 the growth becomes slow again. 



The bark of the tree is thin and orange brown, sepa- 

 rating on the surface into large, papery scales which lie 

 flat against the trunk. 



The wooil is heaxv. exceedingly hard and strong. It 

 is usualh' tine-grained and duralde. orange color, some- 

 times of a \ery deep shade. It is largely used for build- 

 ing, both framing, fli.ioring and interirir tini'-hing: als(j 

 bridging, rail- 

 w ay ties, 

 fencing ; and 

 for masts and 

 sp a r s. A 1- 

 t h o u g h it 

 makes a hot 

 fire, it Ijurns 



slowly and warehouses and storage houses built of it are 

 said to be of slow burning construction. It is rich in 

 resinous materials and thousands of acres uf trees are 

 tapi)ed annually for the "gum" ( oleo-resin I from which 

 resin and turpentine are derived. 'I'he older methiuls of 

 obtaining the "gum" resulted in killing a great many of 

 the trees in a \'erv few vears ; recent improved modern 

 methods are nut so harmful. The wiiod, hiiwever, is 

 not injured by this tapping. 



Unless protection a.gainst tire and means of rei)roduc- 

 tion are looked to, it is expected that there will be ])rac- 

 ticallv no longleaf pine trees left in a few years. They 

 are being cut for lumber in large quantities every year, 

 and wilhiiut protection they are likely gradually to be- 

 come extinct. 



Commercial Uses of Longleaf Pine 



Bv P. L. BUTTRICK 



Wl l.\T the white pine has been to the Xorthern 

 States, the longleaf pine has been, and still 

 is, to the Southern. If the great white pine 

 forests of nnrthern New England, New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and the Lake States have vastly affected the li\'es 

 of the peiiple. not (mly within their borders, but in the 

 nation as a wlmle, and have left it the jMiorer for their 

 passing, the vast pineries of the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States have had no less an effect, and their passing is 

 no less to be regretted. 



It is said that England won the title "Mistress of the 

 Seas" with ships whose masts were nf Xew bjigland 



pine. These same ships 



tarred their rigging 



and calked their seam?- 



with tar and pitch de- 

 rived from the longleaf 



pine of the South, for 



this tree was justly 



noted as a jjroducer of 



naval stores before its 



Will 1(1 was much used as lumber. Later the famous 

 frigates of the American Xavy which so boldly disputed 

 England's title, were in part built of longleaf timbers. 

 About all the original wood which remains today in the 

 famous old frigate Constitution is its flgurcheail, which 

 is of longleaf pine. 



.\lthough the liinglcaf is the i)ine tree par excellence 

 (jf the Snuih, there are nther \aluable pines in that sec- 

 tion, and they are sometimes confused with it, chieflv 

 because of the similarity of some of their common names, 

 for all are called "Southern Pine" and all are called "Yel- 

 low Pine," Init the trees are theinsehes i|uite distinct. 



Besides the longleaf 

 pine, the other com- 

 mon southern pines 

 are: the shortleaf pine, 

 the lo])lolly pine, and 

 the Cuban pine. 



The shortleaf is a 

 tree of higher altitudes 

 than the others, and 



