Rural School Leaflet 1353 



. THE PINES OF NEW YORK 

 John Bentley, Jr. 



In the winter months, when most of the forest trees are leafless, the 

 firs, the spruces, and the pines, with their dark green foliage, are a cheer- 

 ful sight. It makes one feel, somehow, that after all the woods are not 

 lifeless in winter, and that there are some trees bold and hardy enough 

 to withstand the snow and the cold. Pines are particularly noticeable, 

 because there is more motion and life in their foliage than in the stiff, 

 rigid foliage of spruces and firs. Then, too, pines are more familar to 

 most of the boys and girls in the State, because spruces and firs belong 

 to the cold climate of the mountains. 



There are five pines that are native to New York State, besides several 

 others that may be found occasionally in the parks. The five native 

 trees are (i) the white pine, (2) the pitch pine, (3) the red, or Norv/ay, 

 pine, (4) the jack pine, and (5) the Jersey scrub pine. The last two are 

 not very common, however, and generally only the three first mentioned 

 will be found. 



The pines as a group are inarked by three characteristics, which all 

 boys and girls should notice first of all. They are (i) the needle-shaped 

 leaves, borne in clusters of two, three, or five needles; (2) the cones, in 

 which the little seeds are borne; and (3) the wood, which always contains 

 more or less pitch, or resin. These characters distinguish the coniferous 

 (cone-bearing) trees from the broad-leaved trees. The term evergreen 

 should not be applied to the pines, the spruces, and the firs, because 

 there are other trees, such as the holly and the live oak, which retain 

 their leaves throughout the winter and are just as truly evergreen as is 

 the pine or the spruce. Then there is the larch, which bears cones and 

 yet sheds its leaves every year. The leaves of the larch are needle-shaped, 

 it bears cones, and there is some resin in the wood; therefore it clearly 

 belongs to the same family as do pines, firs, spruces, and hemlocks. In 

 order to avoid all confusion, therefore, it is suggested that pupils learn 

 to call all cone-bearing trees conifers, which means cone-bearers. The 

 others may be called broadleaf trees; this will properly include the live 

 oaks and the holly, and will do away with the confusing term deciduous 

 (leaf-shedding) trees. Another term that is frequently heard is hard- 

 woods. As generally used, this tenn means the broadleaf trees, although 

 there are some conifers with very hard wood — yellow pine, for example 

 — and some hardwoods, or broadleaf trees, with very soft wood, such 

 as the poplar and the willow. The use of confusing terms should be 

 abandoned, and the terms conifer and broadleaf, while sounding a little 

 strange at first, will express the meaning more closely. 



The pines are nearly all of great value because of their wood, which 



