VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



155 



PINE FAMILY. 



THE PINES. 



The pines are the largest and most useful group of trees included in the 

 great cone-bearing family. There are in the eastern United States nine dif- 

 ferent species, four of which are found in Vermont. 



The pines, like the other trees of this family, produce their seeds in 

 cones. The pines are peculiar, however, in that their cones require two 



years for maturing. The flowers also 

 take the form of cones, the pollen- 

 bearing and the seed-bearing clusters 

 being separated, though both may be 

 found on the same tree. The yellow 

 pollen matures in May, when it is 

 scattered in great abundance, to be 

 borne to its destination by the wind. 

 Most of the seed-bearing cones develop 

 on the upper branches, and the nut-like 

 seeds escape from them during the sec- 

 ond autumn. The empty 

 cones with opened scales 

 may thereafter cling to the 

 tree for some time or they 

 may soon fall. 



The leaves of all the 

 evergreens cling to the 

 branches several years. 

 The leaves of the white 

 pine, for example, drop 



PINE LEAF CLUSTERS 

 a, Pitch ; b, Gray ; c, Red ; d, White. 



All X V*. 



when they are three or four years old. The arrangement of the leaves, or 

 needles, in clusters of from 2 to 5, with the base of each cluster encased in a 

 delicate sheath, offers a simple means of distinguishing the species. 



Leaves 5 in each cluster White Pine 



Leaves 3 in each cluster .Pitch Pine 



Leaves 2 in each cluster 



Leaves 4 to 6 inches long Red Pine 



Leaves 1 or ij^ inches long Gray Pine 



Introduced species. — Two European pines are sometimes planted as or- 

 namental trees in Vermont, the Austrian and the Scotch. The Scotch pine 

 has leaves, 2 in a cluster, 2-4 inches long, flat and of a bluish-white hue. 

 The Austrian pine has dark green, slender, rigid leaves, 2 in a cluster, 4-6 

 inches long. 



