1877.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



277 



sending you two fruits of Passiflora edulis by 

 sanaple post. We have got two plants in the 

 open air full in bloom and fruits, the first time 

 in this part of the globe, as we are informed. 



The taste of the fruit ia like Gooseberry, 

 perhaps still more delicate. As soon as P. Gran- 

 adilla is ripe, we shall take the liberty of 

 sending you a sample." 



BlORESTRY. 



GOMMUNICA TIONS. 



YELLOW PINE. 



BY H. W. RAVENEL, AIKEN, S. C. 



In an editorial note in June number, p. 177, 

 you refer to the " Yellow Pine" so called, in con- 

 nection with Prof. Sargent's reference of that 

 name to Pinus mitis; and express a belief that 

 the Pine lumber which comes to the Philadelphia 

 market is from Pinus australis. If your lumber 

 comes from a Southern market you are probably 

 right. The timber of Pinus australis (long-leaved 

 Pine) is known universally through the timber 

 region as " Yellow Pine." Elliott, in his Botany 

 of the State, says the same name was known in 

 his day. 



There is, however, a great difference in the 

 quality of the timber, tliough all derived from 

 the same species, dependent mostly on the soil, 

 and manner and growth of the trees. Along the 

 damp, rich soils of the sea-board, it grows more 

 luxuriantly, and attains greater height. As you 

 go into the interior, and more especially towards 

 the lighter and dryer soils, the growth is less 

 luxuriant, and the annual increase more slow. 

 In consequence of this, the grain of the sea-board 

 Pine is coarser as the annual deposits are thicker ; 

 whilst the best lumber trees are found in the 

 upper country, and especially in the sandy re- 

 gion. This I know to be the case in this State, 

 and I presume it is so in Georgia and other 

 Southern States. 



Along the sea-board, an axeman will go into 

 the woods and select his trees, calling the fine 

 grain trees " Yellow Pine," and the coarse grain 

 " Pitch Pine," though both taken from the same 

 grove. He examines the top of the tree, and if 

 he finds it scraggy and deficient in foliage, he 



knows the grain is close and compact; on the 

 contrary, if the top is full, with large limbs and 

 plenty of leaves, indicating great luxuriance, he 

 knows the grain is coarse. The best " Yellow 

 Pine " used for lumber and for export is obtained 

 in this State, and mostly along the sandy region 

 of the middle country, about the head waters of 

 the Edisto River. Saw-mills prepare a large 

 quantity for local use and for shipment, and 

 rafts of logs are taken down the stream to 

 Charleston for market and export. 



The timber of our other Pines is inferior, and 

 is never used when the long-leaved Pine can be 

 had. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Growth of Oak. — On the 6th of August the 

 writer measured a large number of Oak growths, 

 which were over four feet, and still growing. 

 The variety was Quercus robur. The Oak does 

 not grow near as slow as many suppose. Mr. 

 Hoopes, of West Chester has one — a variety of 

 Quercus macrocarpa that is only twelve years 

 old, and is now 17 feet high and 17 inches in cir- 

 cumference. 



Forests of Europe. — At the recent meeting of 

 the American Nurserymen's Association a me- 

 morial to Congress, praying for a commi.ssion to 

 examine the forests of Europe, was adopted. 



Rapid Growth of Hickory. — We measured a 

 plant of a Hickory — Carya sulcata — this Summer 

 whicli in three years from the seed, had made a 

 growth of 3^ feet. On the grounds of Hoopes, 

 Bro., & Thomas, at West Chester, is a tree of the 

 same kind of hickory 12 years old, which is 16 

 feet high and 15 inches in circumference; and 

 yet we hear sometimes that hickory is slow tim- 

 ber to grow. 



