J , ^4 Rural School Leaflet 



is strong for its weight, straight-grained, and easily worked — that is, 

 carpenters have Httle difficulty in planing and shaping it to their pur- 

 poses. Some pines have very hard, heavy, resinous wood, as the Southern 

 yellow pine; but the Northern white pine is light and soft and contains 

 only a moderate amount of resin. The white pine was formerly the 

 most important timber tree of all the Northeastern States, and many 

 millions of board feet of white pine have been cut from the forests of 

 New York within the past century. It is still considered a very valuable 

 tree, and lumbermen are always glad when they can find any white pine 

 to cut, because they know that it will bring a good price in the markets. 

 The white pine is a tall, straight-trunked tree, often reaching a 

 height of one hundred and twenty-five feet in the dense forests of 

 the Adirondack Mountains. When growing in the woods the 

 trunk is frequently clear of all branches for sixty or seventy feet; 

 but when grown in the open, where it has plenty of room, the 

 crown is broad, with many lim.bs growing to within fifteen or 

 twenty feet of the ground. Under these conditions the tree 

 never grows very tall. The kunberman likes best of all the tall, 

 straight trees of the forests, for they yield fine, straight-grained 

 lumber with few knots. 



The white pine can be distinguished from the other pines of 

 this State by the needles, which grow in clusters of five. If the 

 foliage of a pine tree is examined it will be seen that the needles, 

 instead of growing singly, grow in bundles, or chisters. In the 

 white pine there are always five needles in a cluster. The indi- 

 \ddual needles are from two and one-half to five inches long, slender, 

 flexible, bluish green, with a fine white streak. Some cones may 

 be found growing on the tree, or those that have fallen from the 

 tree and are now lying on the ground may be examined. The 

 White ^yi^iiQ p{ne cone is about five inches in length, is usually slightly 



PlflC ... 



needle curved, and is slender, rarely exceeding an inch in thickness. 

 duster ^^ jg £j.gg ixom. spines, or prickles. If a dry cone has been picked 

 up the seeds have doubtless been shed and scattered ; but if a fresh one 

 can be found with seeds in it, it may be seen how each seed is provided 

 with a thin wing, which enables the wind to blow it for long dis- 

 tances. 



The pitch pine is probably the second commonest pine tree of this 

 State. It is generally found growng on very poor soils, where only the 

 hardiest trees or shrubs will thrive. This tree can grow in these poor 

 situations because of its thick bark, which is often two inches thick at the 

 base of the tree, and because it can resist fire much better than can the 

 white pine. It is not nearly so neat in appearance as the white pine; 



